I Want To Touch You
by nikkisixirresistiblebitch
Summary: AU: Stefan becomes disillusioned with Elena's interest in Damon, and turns to Bonnie. Of course, Damon hates it. S/B, D/B. Review is Love.
1. Chapter 1

**Pairing: Bonnie/Stefan, Bonnie/Damon eventually, other TVD characters**

I Want To Touch You

He finds Elena on the coach with Damon on top of her. He wants to pull him off, slam him against a wall, or two. But what stops Stefan are the noises Elena makes; the ones he swore were only for him, only for the feel of his hands and mouth on her. Apparently, Elena's moans are for anyone who touches her the right way. Blind rage follows. Stefan honestly can't remember what he does but blood ends up on his hands (all of it his brothers), and Stefan thinks that if Damon was human, his face would definitely heal funny. That, or Damon would be dead. Either one is fine by him right now.

Stefan considers taking vervain and putting himself inside the makeshift dungeon in the boarding house he shares with Damon. It's like suicide only not. Stefan wonders why he just doesn't walk out into the sun without his ring. Something unexplainable stops him from doing that.

Elena tries to explain. Tries to give him this spiel about feelings and confusion and attraction. There's even this bit about maybe wanting both brothers. That's Damon's thing, not his. Elena tells Stefan that she still loves him. Funny, her brand of love makes him feel like shit.

Damon, for once in many long years, tries to stay out of Stefan's way. Damon knows he has fucked up.

[Stefan wonders if Damon really knows him. Stefan guesses Damon just reads the stuff crammed into his diary. ]

Gradually, (which feels like just four weeks to Stefan) Damon and Elena begin this "thing" together. While there is no explicit mention of Damon being Elena's new boyfriend, Jenna barely bats an eyelash at the sudden change. One night at the dinner table, Jeremy questions Elena as to why Stefan no longer comes around. There is this look of anguish that comes along Damon's face at the mention of the name. He kind of wanted to get the girl and keep his brother. Things never work out the way they are supposed to. Elena ignores her brother's question and asks if he wants more salad.

Stefan doesn't take vervain and lock himself in the dungeon. (Okay, that's a lie. He does it for a full day but it gets ruined by Damon who places himself at the door of the dungeon and refused to leave until Stefan wants to come out. To Elena this is an out of character sweetness that portrays just how much Damon loves his brothers). Maybe Damon does love Stefan, but Stefan could care less.

* * *

At first Bonnie is fucking furious. Seriously, the dude tried to kill her over something she did while possessed by her ancestor. That's just plain wrong. But Elena goes over this long speech about seeing the good in Damon and how he's very sorry and maybe Damon and Bonnie can be friends. "What about Stefan? I thought you loved Stefan?!", Bonnie exclaims. Elena ignores the question and asks Bonnie if she wants a French fry.

Later, Damon smoothes his hand along Elena's naked thigh and watches her breath catch in the middle of her throat. He never thought he could have this, her, in his hands. It was easier than he thought, and a little more painful then he counted on. Damon spent most of his vampire life hating Stefan, but that was a surface hate. It never went as deep as the skin. Damon thought that there would be some satisfaction in taking Elena. And there was. He cared about the brunette. The annoying thing was, he actually cared about Stefan too.

* * *

After her grandmother died, Bonnie took to going to the local park to be closer to nature. It didn't help any. Bonnie thought that life still sucked. Her so called best friend is dating a murderer. It got cold all of the sudden, and Bonnie briefly wondered if she had a death wish, coming out her at night by herself. Oh well, at least she had sneakers on instead of high heels. Also, she can pretty much set things on fire with her mind. That has to count for something. There's some rustling of leaves, and trees, and wind and Bonnie thanks that her life would double suck if it's a rapist.

It's just Stefan, who fortunately, is not a rapist. Wordlessly, Bonnie moves aside on the bench where she sits to allow Stefan to take a seat beside her. He looks sad and forlorn. Bonnie resists the urge to hug him. Seeing Stefan in a bad way bothers her, and strangely, she wants to make him feel better.

Stefan and Bonnie met like that for weeks, rain or moon. Sometimes they talk. Stefan actually cracks a smile when Bonnie suggests ways to turn Damon into a frog. He basically cackles when Bonnie flirts with the idea of giving Elena a case of the chicken pox. Bonnie feels bad about that one because Elena still tries to be friends. It's strained but the friendship is still there.

* * *

Tyler throws a party and everyone wonders how the hell Jeremy got an invite but they figure it's on the account of his sister. They are wrong, but that is a story for another time. Elena drags Damon to the party, of course. And of course Damon flirts with everything that moves, which makes Elena fume in the corner. She decides to go upstairs to one of the many rooms and lay down. She convinces herself of the current mantra: 'I'm hot. Damon loves me, he's just being a jerk. I'm hot. Damon loves me, he's just being a jerk...'

Elena gets to one of the rooms. Tyler's parents' room to be exact, and see all of these people, milling about, soaking the carpet with beer, putting Cheeto finger prints on the expensive paint on the walls. Someone is throwing up in the bathtub. The toilet seat cover has been removed and is currently perched on top of a person's head as if it were a hat. To be sure, Tyler's parents are going to flip. But all of the mayhem is not what has Elena's attention. Stefan and Bonnie were spending the evening sitting on the bed, heads together and hands entangled. They are whispering and laughing.

As Damon is driving Elena home, he wonders if he went too far by doing a shot off that blonde's stomach. Elena is mad. Very mad. He can tell because her normally pouty lips are thin with anger and her arms are crossed over her chest like she doesn't want to touch anybody and she really doesn't want anybody touch to her. Damon quits thinking when Elena starts her stumbled speaking,

"I can't believe he would do this to me. I thought he loved me. Obviously he just wanted to get into my pants. What the hell? I'm I not good enough for him?"

Damon wonders why she is referring to him in third person, but then there is the cold realization that Elena is not talking about Damon at all,

"How could Bonnie do this? We are supposed to be best friends. I bet she totally wanted to steal him from me. That first day he came to school, she was totally wanted him, Lying Bitch!"

Damon could not figure out what Bonnie had to do with anything.

* * *

Stefan doesn't come home that night. When he does come home in the morning, Damon is sort of relieved that there's no need for a search party. Damon takes notice of the change in Stefan: He looks as relaxed as he's ever been, although his clothes are slightly askew. There is the smell of sweat and flowers all over him. When Damon offers him coffee, Stefan doesn't look at him as if he wants to pull him apart with a set of pliers. Stefan just accepts the coffee and goes to his room. Actually he skips to his room. What the hell?

At lunch, while Caroline chirps in Elena's ear about her latest endeavor with Matt, Elena searches the crowd for a sign of Bonnie. Bonnie skipped first period, and barely attended the second. Elena's initial plan of ignoring Bonnie goes to bust. On to the next plan, in which is to confront Bonnie.

When Bonnie finally saunters into the lunch room, all of the students stop whatever they are doing and stare. They must notice the change in her. The way she sort of wiggles her ass while she walks, the way she stands straight, which coincidently sticks her chest out, but not in an obscene way. Her hair is a little wild, but its becoming. There is a smell of flowers all about her, and she looks flushed and excited. The male students seem excited too. She was always hot, but today, she is especially hot.

"Holy crap, Bonnie! You look like a little sexpot, doesn't she Elena?" Caroline broadcasts excitedly, oblivious to the rift between her two friends.

Elena blurts out "How could you?"

Caroline is thrown for a loop. Bonnie ignores the question and asks the girls if the pizza is good today.

* * *

Stefan has taken to sneaking Bonnie in the house. It's easier when Damon is at Elena's. Stefan really doesn't know why he does it. It's not like he is ashamed of their relationship or whatever it is that they have. He just knows that he wants whatever this is, to belong only to him. Stefan doesn't want to have to explain anything to anyone. Why the hell should he?

Damon wakes up in the middle of the night and he doesn't know what for. He thinks maybe he was having a dream because he has that panicky feeling that tells him that if he were human, his breathing would be rushed and his heart would speed up. The thing is, he is sure the dream wasn't a bad one. Pleasant, even. The smell of flowers is all over his room.

* * *

Damon is invited by Jenna to a family dinner. Jenna also invites Bonnie and Caroline and tells them to bring whomever they want to. Caroline brings Matt. Bonnie brings Stefan (but informs him that they are going strictly as friends for Elena's sake). Jeremy invites Tyler. Jenna thinks it's because Tyler was kind enough to invite Jeremy to his party, but she is wrong, and that is all together another story.

Elena pouts and fumes throughout dinner. She really used to be a better person then she is now. She was kind, and sweet and always loyal. Now, she's just...not. See what having sex with vampires can do to you?

Damon tries his level best not to poke out his eyes with a fork. It's so boring. Elena is not making kissy faces at him and that totally ruins the dinner for Damon. Jeremy and Tyler stare at each other over their plates. Caroline clutches Matt's left arm possessively.

Damon beings to notice these little glances between Stefan and Bonnie. It's just friendly at first, but then it begins to look to be a little more than that. Elena eventually stomps from the table before dessert is served. Damon finally figures out what is going on, with how crazy Elena's been acting and all the whispering between Stefan and Bonnie,

"Are you two fucking?"

Tyler and Jeremy are startled for a moment, thinking that Damon is addressing them. They relax when they realize Stefan and Bonnie are the targets of the question. Stefan ignores the question and asks Jenna if he could have more apple pie.

The drive home with Elena is awkward at best. She's obsessing over Bonnie and Stefan and really, Damon should be upset because Stefan is the EX, and therefore should not take precedence over Damon. Annoyingly enough, Damon can't stop obsessing over the same thing. Bonnie has the capacity to be the world's most powerful witch, and she's wasting her time on a guy who still snacks on rodents. It's disconcerting, is what it is. Bonnie should be with someone handsome and powerful. Someone like Damon.

**A/N: More Bonnie, Stefan, and jealous!Damon is the next chapter.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks to 1beaut, KJCullenHatterSalvitoreBloome, Storyteller247, RockerChick08, primavera15, Agent-Merriweather, jstarr713, Danielle Salvatore, ChaneD, Sky Samuelle, norrific, Dragon77, allyromance99, Hannah2608, lynsay, MidnightBlack07, babyshan211, Small-Clever-and-Terrible, jimi18, and Abcofgrowingup. Your reviews meant so much to me. **

Chapter Two

Stefan is sure that he's never wanted Elena as much as he wants Bonnie. It's strange because Stefan has always believed that one true love is all you get. He was sure that he found it in Elena, but that love was all wrapped up in wanting to protect her. He wants to protect Bonnie too, but the thing is, Bonnie wants to protect Stefan as well. This is as close as he has ever gotten to an equal relationship. Katherine wanted him when he was dumb and human. Elena wanted him as a security blanket. Yes, Bonnie is still fragile. Biologically, she is like any other human. But there is this undercurrent of power that is undeniable. Stefan wants to touch that power, to hold it with his bare hands.

* * *

"Look, I don't want to tell you what to do with your little girlfriend, but don't blame me when Elena goes on the warpath."

Damon felt it was his duty to talk sense into his little brother. Out of all the women Stefan could have taken up with, why did it have to be Bonnie? It was bad enough that Elena is constantly in his ear about the issue, but this love-sick look that Stefan has been perpetuating these past few months is frustrating. Its not that Stefan can't be happy, relatively speaking. Just not with Bonnie.

"Sometimes you can't control who you fall for, Damon. It just happens. You have Elena. What does it matter whom I'm with?"

Damon wanted to contest that it did matter. It mattered a lot. As far as Elena goes, it's not all it's cracked up to be. But that would be admitting defeat. It would be like admitting the beautiful Italian suit you ordered finally arrived, but that it didn't fit properly.

Instead, Damon attacks Stefan's moral fiber, "You and Bonnie together is completely wrong. She's Elena's best friend. How could you do that to her?"

Stefan could just as easily attack Damon for seducing Elena away from him. It is not like Damon is innocent in all of this. "Do you really want to go there Damon?

Damon thought for a solid minute, and decided that no, he would not like to go there.

* * *

It's a Friday night and Bonnie's father isn't home. If he were, he would be shocked at the wanton display. Bonnie lost her shirt twenty minutes ago, and her jeans are nowhere to be found. Her bra is under the coffee table, and her panties are bunched around one ankle.

Stefan did not intend on distracting Bonnie. He only wanted to help her with her paper. He has extensive knowledge of the Great Depression and it beats reading books on the subject. But when he arrived to her home, he couldn't help but notice that they were alone. Damon had taken to watching them like a hawk whenever they were at the boarding house. Besides being creepy, it was annoying.

So they finally have the chance to be alone and Stefan wanted to take advantage of that. All he wanted was to kiss her for a little while. And maybe hold her close to him, that was it. But then kissing wasn't enough. Stefan wanted to touch her. She was so warm and made him feel like a man, which isn't something he's felt for a long time.

Damon, on the other hand, was not having such luck. Elena should be naked and servicing him, not going on and on about Bonnie and Stefan (whom Elena has renamed as Bitch and Jerk, respectively). While Bitch and Jerk are probably somewhere fucking each other brains out, Damon has to deal with a hysterical Elena.

Damon finally had enough of the nagging, "Why do you care? You have me. You and I are together. In case you haven't noticed, I'm pretty awesome."

What Damon said is true. However, Elena could not let it go. "Stefan told me he loved me. Now it's like I don't even matter."

"Elena, do you love me?" Damon really didn't know what possessed him to ask this. It's not like it mattered (Okay, he's lying. It did matter. He betrayed the one person out of this whole damned world who truly knows him. At the time, he thought he loved Elena. And damn it, Elena has got to love him too. Damon did not want to have done all of this for nothing).

Elena took longer answering then she had meant to.

Damon did not feel guilty kicking her out of his home.

* * *

Bonnie started noticing the little things. Damon would leave two mugs of coffee, instead of one. He would offer to make dinner for the lovely couple. He would try to be on his best behavior. Bonnie thought is was a load of crap.

Bonnie takes Damon aside to have a heart to heart with him. "Elena put you up to this? She wants you to act like a civilized person for once."

Damon wanted to tell Bonnie that no, Elena was not behind his nice demeanor, and that Elena would like very much for Bonnie to burn in hell.

Damon chose his first thought, "Elena has nothing to do with this. I am being nice because I want to."

Bonnie did not believe this at all. "Damon, you have this amazing propensity to be mean and spiteful and you don't think about anyone's feelings but your own. Why should you? All of these years, its worked for you. So please, don't change on my account."

Bonnie left Damon by himself to ponder how the hell this morning went so wrong, so fast.

* * *

It's a full month before Damon comes clean and tells Stefan that he and Elena are no longer together. He expects Stefan to do a victory dance, but Stefan looks surprisingly concerned. He didn't want a repeat of the Katherine debacle. Damon is not going to go off the rails. But he is still disappointed. He held Elena to such high standards. Maybe that was the problem.

* * *

"What if I told you that Elena was still in love with you?" Damon asks out of nowhere.

"What do you mean?" Stefan was confused by this question.

"If you I told you that all through our relationship, Elena could only talk about you, 'Stefan doesn't love me any more. How could he do this to me?' blah blah blah."

Stefan is taken aback. "What do you want me to say?"

"I want you to be honest. I want you to tell me the only reason you hooked up with the little Witch was to get back at Elena."

"That's not me, Damon, that's you. You're the one who believes in revenge and making people pay."

"And you don't?"

Stefan paused at this. He knows very well that if anyone ever hurt someone he loved, he would make them pay.

"I am not with Bonnie because I want to get back at Elena."

"Liar!," Damon exploded. There was something about this situation that made him unbelievably angry. Damon won. He had got the girl. Yet, he still loses. He loses once again to Saint Stefan.

* * *

Damon tries to figure out what it is about Bonnie that has Stefan so infatuated. He thinks it maybe her mossy green eyes and her warm brown skin. Or that every room she's been in smells like flowers. Damon quits being so nice and starts to pick on her whenever he sees her. It's all quite entertaining until Stefan starts to look murderous and Bonnie looks as if she wants to set Damon's hair on fire.

What drives him really mad are the countless hours the lovely couple spend in Stefan's room. Sometimes, Damon can hear them talking about the future, as if they have one together. What's worse is when he hears the smacking, wet sounds of their kissing, the snap of buttons, and the slide of zippers. Damon wants to get out of the house. He wants to pick up some random chick to charm and drink on. But he stays and listens. He listens to the singular heartbeat within the room. He can tell the moment Stefan sinks himself inside her, because her breath quickens. Damon can tell when Bonnie is close to coming because she makes these involuntary gasps and her heart speeds up. He imagines her holding on tight because letting go is not an option. And all through it, Stefan never bites her, never tastes her in that way. Damon thinks that Stefan is a fool.

* * *

In hopes of reuniting her friends, Caroline commissions Elena and Bonnie to help her with a costume party that she's throwing. There really is no special occasion, except boredom, and Caroline sees it as an opportunity to get the girls together again. Matt narrowly escapes the planning by claiming he is decoratively challenged. Tyler claims he is tutoring Jeremy. Caroline becomes suspicious because although Tyler and Jeremy are far from stupid, one tutoring the other is like the blind leading the blind. Caroline let's it go because that is a conversation for another time. Caroline does plan on asking Matt what the hell is going on with those two, pronto.

Elena and Bonnie don't scratch each other's eyes out. It's almost like old times with the laughing and the gossiping, and as long as no one mentions the Salvatore Brothers, things are peachy. Elena has missed Bonnie and the friendship they shared. Now if only Stefan will come to his senses dump the Witch, Elena can truly be happy.

It's another week, another Saturday night and Damon is bored as usual. Bonnie and Stefan mentioned some stupid costume party that the vapid Caroline is throwing. Damon considered crashing it and giving the kiddies a fright. If he did that, Stefan would give him the brooding forehead and Damon did not want to deal with that tonight. Damon goes to Mystic grill instead because there has to be some fun there tonight, right?

By 2 AM, Damon is on his seventh bottle of bourbon and the bartender is giving him weird looks. It's not Damon's fault that he has to try really hard to get drunk.

Some kids from Caroline's party start piling in. Damon wonders how these parents could let their kids run wild at this time of night. Don't they know there are killers here?

Bonnie floats in with Stefan in hand. Damon's not sure what she's supposed to be dressed as, but she looks sexy as hell. Her lips gloss has long rubbed off and she looks flushed from too much dancing. Damon thinks she's beautiful.

She laughs and leans into Stefan for a moment and then heads for the bathroom. Before Damon realizes it, he's following, bourbon in hand. When he gets to the lady's room, Bonnie is standing in front of the mirror over the sink and reapplying her lip gloss. Bonnie is startled by Damon but recovers quickly and barely bats an eyelash at Damon's presence.

"What do you see in him?" Damon is a little surprised by his voice. It sounds humorless, and he really wants this question to be a joke so Bonnie won't answer seriously. Damon doesn't think he can handle serious in his current state.

Bonnie considers the question. She could probably write a dissertation on how wonderful Stefan is, but she gives Damon the short version. "Stefan is honest about whatever he wants to tell me. I'm not driven to know everything because I understand that some things are better left in the past. I know that Stefan hasn't always been good, but he is good to me. I like that he doesn't treat me like I'm something breakable. I love that he asks my opinion on anything and everything, and he actually listens to me."

"Is that all, because I can totally be mysterious and keep secrets. I'm a great listener. Just asks Caroline; When she would go on and on, I resisted the urge to snap her neck." Damon means this as a joke because surely, he is not trying to sell himself to the Witch.

When Bonnie laughs, it sounds tired, like she pities him. He does not want her pity. Instead, Damon plays the asshole card, "This must be exciting for you. You one-upped the great Elena Gilbert. I would like to spend some time with you, you know, just to see how you and Elena measure up."

Bonnie gets fed up with Damon's antics, and starts to leave the bathroom, but Damon grabs her arm before she's out the door. Bonnie wonders if she should conjure up the mojo to get Damon's hand off her. She can smell the alcohol and the aftershave and his eyes are watery and unfocused. "Don't go. We were just..." Damon broke for a moment, at a loss for words. "We were just getting somewhere," he continued.

Damon thinks that vampires can get drunk after all.

"Do you hate me? Huh, Bonnie? You can't stand to be in the same room with me, is that it? I'm not Saint Stefan, and I never will be so you better get used to it, little Witch."

When Damon lets Bonnie go, she had no idea she was pulling so hard to get away. She stumbles a bit and falls on her knees. The impact leaves her knees smarting. Damon steps over her and walks out of the bathroom.

One minute, Damon's asleep, and the next, his face is having an intimate moment with the wall.

"What did you do to her?"

Damon has a hard time registering the question so Stefan shakes him and asks him again, "What did you do to her?"

Damon's first thought is that he could totally kick Stefan's ass on a normal day but there is nothing like an angry Stefan with the element of surprise on his side. Plus Damon is sure he has a hang-over, if that is even possible.

Stefan doesn't wait for an answer but issues a warning. "Stay away from Bonnie."

Stefan doesn't say anything else but the implied notion is that if Damon doesn't stay away, Stefan will kill him.

Damon thinks "Typical Stefan. Over-reacting as usual."

* * *

Things are tense for a while but gradually return to some normalcy. Damon puts together that Bonnie didn't rat him out. Stefan saw Damon come out of the lady's room. He then sees Bonnie, looking distraught and embarrassed. Damon really didn't mean to scare Bonnie. He just wanted her to stop treating him like he was a leper.

Bonnie convinces Stefan to forgive his brother. Damon has done some awful things, and Bonnie has every reason to hate him. However, Bonnie feels that Damon is the only real family that Stefan has. Turning his back on Damon would only make him a bigger asshole to some poor unsuspecting girl.

* * *

Damon wakes up and it's the same thing every night. He can't remember any of it but it leaves him feeling good and strange and worried, all the same. He wants to bang on Stefan's door and tell the Witch to stop it. Stop filling his head with skin and flowers. It sickens him. It makes him crazy. It makes him want to hurt something. Most of all, it makes him want to grab Bonnie and kiss her senseless.


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks to all of those wonderful people who have reviewed my stories.**

Chapter Three

Damon gets used to the dreams, welcomes them actually. What else is he going to do? He thought about confronting the little Witch but Bonnie seems like she has no idea of what is happening. He doubts that she is doing it on purpose. Not the good little Witch. She wouldn't torment a hungry vampire.

Elena wants to try once more with Damon but its clear that she is still in love with Stefan. Damon doesn't want to settle for second best. Rebuffing her advances is surprisingly easy. It's all eyelashes and regret with Elena and he doesn't want the hassle. He never thought that he could say no to Elena.

Damon gets to thinking about Katherine. He starts thinking about that whole fucked-up love triangle that he and his brother were involved in. Then history repeats itself again with Elena, and that ends just as painfully. Damon had gotten to the point were he believed that he and his brother were doomed to love the same woman, then Stefan had to go and break the cycle by dating Bonnie. Bonnie barely tolerates Damon and there is no way in hell she'll let him touch her willingly. Witches can't be compelled.

Elena gradually returns to normalcy. Although she is pretty sure she is ruined forever for normal guys (well, at least until graduation). Her relationship with Bonnie has gotten better; just as long as there is no mention of Stefan, or even Damon, or anyone with the last name 'Salvatore' for that matter. Bonnie is sad that she can't share her relationship with her friend, but she realizes that Elena needs this for her sanity.

* * *

Damon is sure that he is going crazy. (Okay, he was a little crazy to begin with, so crazy on top of crazy is never good). He begins to think of ways he can get Bonnie alone. It's not like he could suggests Stefan go out of town for a friendly visit with Lexi. If Damon would have known she would have been useful in he future, he wouldn't have killed her.

Besides, after the whole bathroom incident, Stefan has not left Bonnie alone with Damon. Part of Damon is insulted. Its not like he is going to do anything to her. Damon just wanted to talk. (Okay, he is lying. Talking was not anywhere close to what he wanted to do with her, but telling Bonnie that would just repulse her and Stefan would only try to rearrange his face for the third time in history.

It really irritated Damon that Bonnie seemed immune to his charms. By some miracle, Damon walked past the distinguished Salvatore library and spotted Bonnie snooping around. Unattended. It was on a rare occasion that Bonnie had come over, and Stefan is nowhere in sight. With her back turned towards him, he walks in silently and asks her, "You don't find me attractive at all do you?"

Bonnie has long since ceased being startled by Damon's sudden appearance. Bonnie turned to face him, and responded. "Sure, I think you are extremely attractive, beautiful even."

Damon was taken aback. He was expecting her to play dumb, or ignore him. Should have known the Witch would be truthful.

"Then why Stefan?" Damon could not will himself to shut up. It was like he had diarrhea of the mouth when he's around Bonnie. He's not even drunk this time.

"Why Stefan, What?"

"Why are you with him instead of..."Damon let the statement drop. Damon was thisclose to begging. Damon doesn't beg. Bonnie picked up on his statement anyway.

"Instead of you?"

"Okay. Fine. Instead of me." Damon said this a little more forcefully then he intended. Something about this conversation was starting to piss him off. It didn't matter that he started it.

Bonnie did something surprising. She walked over from where she was standing, and raised her hand to his chest, where Damon's heart would be.

"You may be handsome, but in here, you have this ugliness that you allow to consume you. It would be great if you could just get over yourself."

"Get over myself?" Damon would be damned if he took advice from this girl. Although, if Bonnie kept touching him, he might have to do something drastic like bite her. Or kiss her, then bite her. Before Damon could choose which option, Bonnie moved away from him, putting a safe distance between them.

"You know, a therapist could help you with some of your problems. Provided you don't kill him or her," Bonnie continued.

"A therapist?" Damon asked, moving closer. He did not like that she moved away from him.

"Yes, a therapist."

"You could be my therapist," Damon suggested, moving closer still.

"I'm still in high school. You really need a professional."

Damon wanted her to keep talking, because if she kept talking than she wouldn't notice him moving closer, and if she doesn't notice that, then she would never notice him when he finally grabs her and kisses her. To Damon, that sounded like a good plan. Just when he is about to initiate the final part of his fiendish plan, Stefan walks in. Talk about bad timing.

* * *

Damon wonders when it was that he became a peeping tom. As far as sex is concerned, he was never much for voyeurism, or whatever it's called when you listen to people have sex. Yet here he is, listening to Bonnie and Stefan. Again. This was becoming ridiculous.

Damon perks up when he hears something unusual. There were the usual noises of the young couple in the throws of passion, but then there is a thump, and a scream that has nothing to do with pleasure. Damon rushes into Stefan's room, thinking one or both are in danger. He briefly takes note of the top sheet wrapped tightly around Bonnie's body. Stefan is laying on the ground in all of his naked glory, and Bonnie's standing over him, looking absolutely terrified.

"What happened?"

"I don't know. He just sort of...passed out. Can vampires do that?"

Damon flirted briefly with telling her the truth that no, vampires don't just sort of pass out. But Damon couldn't bring himself to do it; not with Bonnie looking so scared.

Stefan starts to wake up, blinking slowly as if reorienting himself with his surroundings. He must finally get his bearings because he realizes where he is at, and that Damon is in the room. Stefan jumps up, grabs a pillow to cover his still erect member, and orders Damon out, "Get out!"

Damon's hands fly up in defense, "Hey, I was doing you a favor. I come in here and see you lying on the floor. I was just about to offer my assistance, right Bonnie?

"Um, right." Bonnie grabs Stefan's arm with the hand that isn't holding the sheet around her and turns Stefan toward her.

"Stefan, are you alright?"

"I'm fine"

Bonnie gazed at him worriedly "Are you sure?"

"Yes. I've never felt better, actually."

Damon is not sure what is going on here but his brother is off the floor and the lovely couple are back to making moon eyes at each other, so he guesses that his job here is done.

* * *

Damon wakes up and its the first time he remembers everything.

He remembers it all.

Bonnie's under him, there's not a stitch of clothing between them and he is so sure that he has never been as alive as he is right now. The lips that kiss all over his face and the hands that run through his hair and down his back are possessive. When their lips touch, it's like an electric shock hardwired straight through his heart and right to his dick. He can't get enough of her mouth and the little sips she takes or her little probing tongue, and he thinks he is going to lose it just from kissing her. Her lips are hot and they make him want to do something dangerous.

He wants to be inside her, right fucking now, but he's no animal. Damon glides his hands down her body, stopping to tweak the stiff peaks on her breast, then smoothing his hands down her flat stomach. When he touches her intimately, he can't get over wet throbbing on his fingers where they a hooked below, or the little hiss Bonnie makes because even two fingers are a stretch and Damon wonders how the hell he is going to fit in there.

But he wants to. God, he wants to. He wants to do everything that their bodies will allow.

Damon wakes up before anything remotely interesting happens. There's a throbbing between his legs and his head is aching, and he body feels hot all over. It's hard to believe that his dreams could betray him like this. When Damon thrusts his face into his pillow, he smells flowers.

* * *

"So, your Bonnie's first right?" Damon really isn't expecting Stefan to answer the question because Stefan's a prude when it comes to discussing sex. Stefan ignores his brother, continues to sip his coffee and pretends to read the paper hoping Damon will leave it alone.

"I mean, she's had to have been with other guys right?"

Stefan does not want him to go any further, so he asks, "What is your point?"

"Don't let this go to your head or anything thing but, you're kind of huge in the penis department. Well, almost as big as me. Anyway, how do you get all of that into that tiny little school girl puss---"

Damon doesn't finish because Stefan throws his coffee mug at Damon's head, and walks to his room.

Damon yells after him, "It's a reasonable question, any man would be curious."

* * *

Everything is pretty much kosher, except Bonnie starts giving Damon these strange looks, and Stefan start giving Damon stranger looks for a completely different reason.

Damon brings girls home sometimes, and he makes sure she's loud and wanton but Bonnie's never jealous and Stefan finds it amusing and also a little sad the Damon can never remember these women's names. Damon still dreams, and eventually Bonnie and Damon make it to the good stuff, but that is only in dreams. Damon is pretty sure that Bonnie thinks he is a peeping tom pervert but who cares.

Then Stefan starts to pass out again and Bonnie gets scared again, and Damon tries very hard not to be an asshole. Bonnie figures that it's not Stefan because even though his diet is crap, it hasn't killed him so far. Bonnie starts to think it's her and that may be she's working the mojo without knowing it but as far as she knows it's only affecting Stefan.

* * *

Damon spends most of his time sleeping and it worries Stefan because Damon has always been so active. Now, he just sleeps and eats and it's not like he is depressed or anything. He looks quite happy, with his lopsided grin. Damon only has Bonnie in his dreams and he is okay with that. He is absolutely okay. So what if he sleeps more than usual? He feels great. Except, it's not normal for Damon to be sleeping so much, and Stefan should not be fainting and Bonnie is officially one scared Witch.

Bonnie wants to play the hero for once. She looks in her grandmother's books to see if there is anything in there about a witch's power going haywire. Damon walks around like a dementedly happy zombie and Stefan just wants to touch her all day. It would be great except it's not normal.

There's this witch that her grandmother had told her about before she died. She goes and contacts a woman by the name of Natalie, who seems to know her stuff. The botanical shop that Natalie owns is not far away.

The shop is small but homey, and Bonnie could like it here. Natalie looks so very young, with her short blonde hair and her blue, blue eyes. Bonnie thinks that Natalie has to be older than she looks. Natalie smiles at Bonnie as if she was expecting her, and she offers her tea. Bonnie worry stumbles across her lips, and it a wonder that Natalie even understands what she is saying. All of it comes out, Stefan fainting, Damon sleeping, Bonnie feeling like she could conquer the world. And the little things like how Matt gives her these strange looks over Caroline head, our how Jeremy blushes terribly when Bonnie's around, and Tyler winks and gazes at her slowly. It is confusing and scary.

Sometimes, it's just like it always was. Stefan will go days without an incident. Jeremy and Tyler will sneak off together doing God knows what, and Matt would be so wrapped up in Caroline. Bonnie thinks it's okay until Damon takes her aside and pleads, "Just. Bonnie please, you have to make it stop."

That is what finally drives Bonnie here, sitting in front of Natalie. Natalie just nods and smiles like she understands."This is amazing!"

Bonnie is shocked at Natalie's statement, "Amazing? What is so amazing about what I've told you?"

"There haven't been many of your kind for at least fifty years, this is all very exciting."

Bonnie says nothing because she is very confused at this point.

Natalie continued, "You don't have to be afraid. Although, it would help if you fed before you got hungry."

"Fed?"

"Yes. You don't want to wear out Stefan, or Damon for that matter?"

"What are you talking about?"

"When you fed off energy, it could make your subjects very tired."

"Again, what are talking about?"

"Didn't your grandmother tell you? Your a Qarinah."

Bonnie remembers something like that from the books. Realization dawns on her.

Bonnie blinked slowly, "I'm a succubus?"

"Sort of. Your a witch that harnesses energy and power from pretty much any source. Human's have energy but not very much to sustain anyone as potential powerful as you. Have you ever wondered why your relationships with regular guys never really felt satisfying? It wasn't because the guys were jerks. Their energy wasn't enough for you. Stefan, on the other hand seems more than capable..."

Bonnie sensed a 'but' coming so asked, "But?"

"Stefan does not have the diet that most vampires do. He could run the risk of becoming very weak. It's really very normal for witches such as yourself to take more than one powerful lover ---"

"Wait, wait, wait. What? Taking lovers? I love Stefan. There is no way I'm taking a lover."

Natalie lost patience, "If you don't you can run the risk of hurting Stefan and hurting yourself. Do you want that?"

"No. I don't want Stefan to be hurt, but what you are asking me to do will hurt him anyway."

"You really don't have a choice. The dreaming is affecting the males you are in contact with. You don't understand how it is for them. They cannot control their attraction to you."

"So you're saying that Stefan's love for me is not real."

"Believe me, it's real. He loves you with his heart and soul, just as you love him. Your power just intensifies the feelings and emotions in your relationship. Makes them almost tangible."

"What about Damon's reaction to me?"

"That is real as well. The other men that may have dreamt of you can let it go, they will eventually become involved in their own lives and fall in love. But Damon does not wish to move on. His reaction to you should tell you as much."

Bonnie thought about all of this and she still had no idea of what to do. One thing is for sure, she is screwed. Completely and utterly screwed.


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks to all the people who have reviewed my story.**

**A/N: Warning: Lemons ahead!**

Chapter Four

Armed with literature about the Qarinah, Bonnie's trek home was full of doubt and worry. How do you explain to someone you love that you are a succubus and that you may have to have sex with other men to stop bouts of fainting and dreaming? If Bonnie didn't know that it was the truth, she would have herself committed to a psych ward.

Bonnie doesn't go home. She decides that telling Stefan the truth right away would be best. There is no reason to prolong the pain any further.

Stefan answers the door when she arrives. He takes note of the worry etched on her face. Whatever the problem is, Stefan has made a promise to stand by her. They will get through this.

Bonnie doesn't talk right away. She doesn't know how she will give all of this up, how she will give Stefan up. But she has to. There is no way she is asking him to share her with another man. Maybe he could get back together with Elena. She still loves him. It all will be for the best.

"Stefan, I have something to tell you. I don't know how you will react but I want you to know that I never meant to hurt you or your brother." Bonnie feels that Damon has suffered in all of this as well.

"What is it?" If Stefan was concerned before, the concern has tripled since Bonnie's statement.

"I went to Natalie, the women I told you about. The fainting, Damon's dreaming, it's all connected to this power that I have. Apparently, I'm a Qarinah. It's a succubus of sorts, and I take energy from people. It could be through physical contact: kissing, touching, sex. I can even go into people's dreams and take energy from them that way."

"Okay, so we'll figure out how to control it."

"That's the problem, Stefan. This power will never go away, and the only way I can control it is if I fed off someone's energy."

"You can use me."

"I have been, but it's not enough. Because your diet is modified, you can end up being seriously weak. I would never ask you to drink human blood again. Even if you did start again, I am not sure it will make a difference."

"Well, what can we do?"

"There is another way. I can feed off of someone else, like I have been doing, through dreams. But I don't want to put any of the guys I know through that. To see what it is doing to Damon is enough."

"There is no other way?"

"Natalie says that I could take second lover." Seeing the look on Stefan's face prompted Bonnie to add quickly, "But it won't come to that."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm going to go away and live with my aunt in California. There, I can try to figure out what to do with my powers. You'll have Elena. She still loves you."

"I don't want Elena. I love you. Only you."

Bonnie was trying very hard not to cry, but Stefan was making it difficult.

"The idea of not having you near me, kills me. You can't ask me to just let you go."

"And I can't ask you to share me with another man. I know what that would do to you. It's Katherine all over again. It's Elena all over again. Can you honestly tell me that's what you want?"

"You're right, I don't want that. But I want you. You have no idea how you make me feel. You have no idea of how peaceful I am in my life because you're here with me. Running away won't change that. It won't make me love you any less."

Stefan takes Bonnie's tear streaked face in his hands, "We will figure out some other way but you can't leave me. Not like this."

When Damon comes home, he notices that Stefan is way more broody than usual. Damon wonders if he and Bonnie had a fight or something, but quickly dismisses that because it's obviously all sunshine and rainbows with those two.

Regardless, Damon decides to play big brother and see what's wrong. Stefan was there for him during the Katherine debacle so it's only fair. Stefan can never complain that Damon's never done anything for him.

At first, Stefan is resistant to Damon's prodding, for good reason. Damon has not been the most reliable guy. But Stefan tells him. All of the sordid details out in the open. So the little Witch has been taking power from him while he dreams of her. He can't say he is surprised. He is, however, perturbed by Bonnie plan.

"You are just going to let her go."

"I can't force her to stay, Damon. She thinks she's doing the right thing."

"Like hell. Do you know how many vamps will be after her? Do you know how many people there are just waiting to use her? Bonnie is way more safe here, with us."

"Don't you think I know that! I can't force her to stay if she doesn't want to."

Damon picks up his jacket and heads for the door. "Where are you going?", Stefan asks.

"I'm going to convince Bonnie to stay."

"She won't listen to you."

"Yeah she will. I'll make her."

Damon's irritated beyond belief. How could Bonnie think of doing such a thing. Leaving him. Leaving Stefan.

Damon doesn't have to go about tricking her father to let him in. Bonnie is already outside, on her porch. She looks like she'd been crying all day. She looks tired. She looks sad. Damon thought she was beautiful.

Damon didn't think that preliminaries would work so he just dived right in, "Leaving will destroy him. Elena won't be able to pick up the pieces. I'm not sure I'll be able to help all that well. You really have no choice. If you love Stefan like you say you do, you have to stay."

Damon didn't stay to hear her response. He left knowing that she'll stay. This time, she'll stay with them.

* * *

The dreams stop and it's like an ache in Damon's chest. Bonnie hasn't left Mystic Falls but she has been trying some spells to suppress the dreaming. The spells work.

Bonnie tries very hard not to take energy from Stefan. It's so hard not to touch him whenever she wants. When they make love, she can't let herself go. She's afraid of hurting Stefan. "You don't have to hold back, it's just you and I," Stefan tells her. Bonnie wished she could believe it.

* * *

It starts with Bonnie forgetting things, which is not that unusual in the grand scheme of things.

But then Bonnie starts having these stomach aches like someone is trying to scrape out her intestines with a fork. The pain is enough to make her pass out on more than one occasion.

The doctors are of no help. They suggest that it's psychosomatic. Maybe a girl's cry for attention. Bonnie turns to Natalie, who promptly admonishes her for her lifestyle, "Haven't you been feeding?"

"No. I've been trying to do a spell that would stop me from invading dreams."

"Are you crazy? You can't neglect yourself like this."

Stefan whole-heartedly agrees when Bonnie relays the conversation with Natalie. The pain stops because of some strange herbs that Natalie gives her to drink. Natalie warns her that the remedy is temporary and that she will have to start feeding sometime soon.

* * *

Stefan agonized over the issue. He did not want Bonnie in the arms of another man, but Stefan could admit that just taking what she needed from Stefan was not going to be enough. Bonnie initially refuses to be with anyone else. She knows that it would just hurt Stefan.

"You're asking me to do something that I just can't do"

"You think I want this? I hate this. I hate the very idea of you with anyone. What would hurt me more is if something were to happen to you."

Bonnie becomes frustrated, "Okay, so who's it going to be? Matt? I can't imagine explaining that to Caroline. Tyler? I have the sneaking suspicion that will not sit well with Jeremy."

"Why not me?" Both Stefan and Bonnie turned toward the doorway. Unbeknownst to the couple, Damon had walked in and heard everything.

Hell kind of breaks loose after that. Damon and Stefan argue like Bonnies not even there. Damon accuses Stefan of being selfish,"It's time for you to start thinking about other people besides yourself, Stefan."

"That's funny coming from you."

"Look, this is not about you or me. This is about Bonnie."

"Don't I get a say in this?", Bonnie asks.

"No," Damon and Stefan answer simultaneously.

"Her being with a human is not going to do much for her. Do you see any other trustworthy Vampires here, Stefan?"

Stefan regarded his brother with new eyes, "You wanted this from the beginning, haven't you?"

"This is not about me. You've always been too spoiled, Stefan. You never learned to share properly."

* * *

Damon drives Bonnie to this dinky motel the next town over. Stefan didn't want to know where, because he didn't want to have the whereabouts to track them down. Stefan also didn't want to have whatever was going to take place to happen at the house. It's an easy enough request.

When the older gentleman behind the counter gives Damon the room key, Damon tells the man that he and Bonnie are on their honeymoon. That's Damon. Always joking.

Inside the room, Bonnie stood standing by the door, while Damon stood by the bed. Bonnie made no move to come closer.

"Are you hungry?", Damon asked, on the off chance she wanted something to eat.

"No, I don't want anything." Bonnie answered briskly.

"You know, it would make it easier if you weren't so uptight. You should try and relax."

Bonnie just stared at him. She could not believe she was here. She could not believe that this was happening to her.

Damon moved closer to her, closing the distance between them. When he brushes her hair out of her face with his hand, Bonnie snaps out of her shock, "What are you doing?"

"I'm trying to kiss you."

Bonnie sidestepped Damon and moved further into the room. "I don't want you to kiss me."

"I want to kiss you," Damon said honestly.

"So Stefan was right. You're just taking advantage of the situation."

"I want to help you."

"Why?"

"Because I don't want you to hurt anymore."

"Why do you care?"

Damon paused, then answered very carefully, "Because Stefan loves you."

"So you're doing this for Stefan?"

"I'm doing this for Stefan," Damon lied.

"I can't do this."

"Yes, you can. And you will." Damon answered forcefully.

He softened immediately after seeing Bonnie's stricken expression, "Just pretend. Pretend you're not with Stefan, that he's not your boyfriend. Pretend he's still with Elena. It's just me and you, and you are lonely and I'm lonely. We're a couple of losers just comforting each other."

"You tried to kill me."

"Forget that. None of it matters."

Bonnie looked at Damon as if he were insane.

"None of it matters," Damon repeated.

Damon walked over to Bonnie, once again, "I'm going to kiss you, and you don't have to like it and you can pretend I'm someone else if you want."

When Damon's lips touch Bonnie's, he's briefly worried that this kiss will pale in comparison to his dreams. He's worried that he won't feel anything.

His worry is unfounded. The electricity is still there. Her mouth under his feels as good as any dream he's had. Damon fights hard not to scare her with his desire and fights harder not bite her with his urgency.

Bonnie feels it anyway. She feels all the lust and desire coming off of Damon in waves, and there is some unnamed emotion buried underneath.

Damon begins to undress her. First, he peels her jacket off, and unbuttons her blouse because clothing just gets in the way of his hands on all that skin. Bonnie trembles at the strength of his hands and she wonders how she arrived at this place in her life.

When the last stitch of clothing is off, Damon lays Bonnie on the bed and runs his mouth over any place his hands touch: her breast, her stomach, back up to her neck. And his hands rove everywhere like he wants to remember it.

Something about all of this bothers Bonnie. She wished her skin didn't come alive wherever his fingers and his lips have pressed too hard on her flesh. She really wished he weren't still wearing his clothes. It's the feel of the fabric of his shirt and his jeans rubbing against her that almost infuriates her. Inside, somewhere, she knows it's not really fury.

Suddenly, Damon stops his ministrations, and his hands frame her face, willing her to look at him.

" Do you want me, Bonnie?"

Bonnie nods because it's all she can do. She thinks her voice has abandoned her.

"No, no. I want you to tell me that you want me, because if you don't, I'll leave. I'll leave you here. And you can call Stefan, and he will save you. But, do you want me?" Damon could not explain why this was so important to him.

In the most illogical of situations, Bonnie answered the in the most logical fashion, "Yes. "

Damon turned away and got undressed. He wanted her to look at him while he did it, because he was lying when he said that he wanted her to pretend earlier. He wanted her to know who he was.

He covers her with his body again, and it like there was no pause at all. Everything was still hot all over. Bonnie touched him too, and Damon knew he would not be able to explain why any other girl's hands will never feel like her hands, or why her mouth will always make him thirsty for more.

Damon kissed a trail from between her breast down to her stomach, then below her bellybutton. Bonny could not deny that she wanted him right were he was. Annoyingly, Damon bypassed the place between and placed burning kisses on her thighs. She wanted to grab his head and direct him where she needed him.

Damon spreads her legs so wide that Bonnie ached with the stretch. Bonnie was embarrassed that she was so wet. She used to blush, the first few times with Stefan. Thinking of Stefan almost brought back the guilt but Damon pulled her back to the present when he placed his mouth on her, and dived inside with his warm tongue. Damon lifted his head from his feast and murmur, "God, you taste so good." And then he put his mouth back where it had been, make those spiraling little circles on her clit with his tongue. Bonnie could not believe her ears. Was that her, moaning so loudly?

She lost track of time after that. Bonnie had no idea how long Damon had been down there. When he comes back up to kiss her, she can taste the salty sweetness of herself on his lips. Bonnie wondered if she should return the favor. Damon disrupts this notion by settling himself between her legs.

Slowly, Damon presses one finger in, and then another. He is astounded by the tightness, the wetness. Damon wanted to play with her some more, but his own patience was wearing thin. All this time, his terribly hard cock throbbed, left ignored.

But rather than taking her immediately, he took his cock in hand and stroked gently from her slick entrance up to her hard clit, teasing it and making her moan for his cock, begging for it silently with her eyes. Soon, Bonny was moaning uncontrollably.

Damon finally enters her with a stretch and a pulse of sensation. Bonnie arched her back, as Damon's cock slid inside her, getting deep in there were she was all warm and wet and sticky. He fucked into her rhythmically with steady thrusts of his hips. With her arms around his neck, Bonnie pressed herself against him.

When Bonnie comes, it's almost violent. All of those sounds he used to listen to from outside Stefan's room, all of the moans and the gasps, she was now making for him. For him only. Damon felt the tightening and pulling of her cunt on his cock and was pushed over the edge along with her. And it's like an electric shock through him. He feels like his soul is being sucked out, along with his semen.

* * *

"I still love Stefan. Doesn't that bother you?" Bonnie says, standing by the window with the sheets wrapped tightly around her.

"It bothers me that you don't love me," Damon answers honestly. "But you need me. That is enough right now."

**A/N: Do to real-life obligations, this may be the only update this week. If all goes well, I can post 3/34 or 3/25, but if not, I will not be able to post another chapter until next Monday. I encourage you to read my other stories until then. I am sure the many glorious Bamon writers on FF will keep you entertained.**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviews my work. Anonymous reviewing is enabled so you can review straight away without signing in.**

**Chapter Five**

Bonnie was expecting the ride home to be tense, and uncomfortable. There was still that tension underneath but Damon tried his level best to pretend that they were not just at a motel somewhere having sex. Bonnie was terribly relieved at that. She did not want to have a conversation on the matter. She was, of course worried about Stefan. What would she say to him when she sees him? Nothing has changed for her; not her feelings for Stefan anyway. Whatever she may feel for Damon is another story. Gratitude is most likely the new emotion but examining that further would make Bonnie do something embarrassing, like cry. She has the sneaking suspicion that Damon would just pull the car over and ask her what was wrong. She did not need him to treat her any kinder than he had been. It confused her. It made her think that underneath the bravado was a good person. Thinking that about Damon would be problematic for a lot of reasons.

When the two arrive home, Damon doesn't drop her off at her house. He keeps driving to the home he shares with Stefan. Bonnie is confused by this, "What are you doing?"

Damon must think that it is a stupid question because when he answers her, there is a hint of 'duh' in his voice, "I'm taking you to see Stefan."

"Why?"

"Don't you miss him?" Damon keeps doing this. He keeps asking Bonnie questions that he isn't sure he wants an honest answer to.

"Of course I miss Stefan, but I don't think he would want to see me right now."

"This is more for my benefit then yours. I'll take you to Stefan, show him that I haven't made of with his precious girlfriend, and then you can be on your merry way."

This was the Damon she was used to. The snide, sarcastic Damon. It made her secure to know where she stood with him.

Bonnie became increasingly nervous when the brothers' home came into view. What if Stefan no longer wanted to be with her? What if this was all just too much for him?

When Damon and Bonnie walk into the house, they are both shocked to see Elena speaking low and urgent to Stefan.

Bonnie first instinct to to think that maybe something has happened to Jenna or Jeremy. However, Damon's smirk suggests that there is not a big emergency at all.

Elena finally looks Damon and Bonnie's way and she can't cover up the surprise she feels at seeing them together. The shock is apparent, and underneath, there is a thread of anger. Bonnie doesn't completely understand Elena's reaction.

Elena asks the question that seems to be on everyone's minds, "What's going on here?"

It becomes apparent that Stefan has not told Elena what has been happening. Bonnie has not volunteered that information either for good reason. Elena and Bonnie were just getting back to their friendship again. Mentioning the Salvatores would have ruined that. Although, there is some question as to why Elena is here now.

Damon decides to save the day, "Bonnie was helping me with something. You know how Witches come in handy."

"Bonnie was helping you?," Elena asked incredulously.

"Since Stefan and Bonnie are an item, we thought it was best to bury the hatchet."

Elena turned to Bonnie ready to tell her this was a bad idea, "He tried to kill you?

"That really didn't stop you from making Damon your boyfriend." Bonnie was affronted that Elena would be so bothered by this, especially when she was pushing Damon and Bonnie to make amends in the first place.

"That was different. I was confused. I'm not anymore. Right, Stefan?"

Stefan looked to be a deer caught in headlights. The conversation that he and Elena shared before Damon and Bonnie arrived needed to happen. However, Stefan was not sure that Elena and he were on the same wavelength.

Elena continued, "Stefan has forgiven me."

Damon spoke before Bonnie to wrap her mind around Elena's statement, "Is that true?"

"It's true. I have forgiven Elena, but I don't think ---"

Elena interrupted, "Stefan and I have decided to give it another chance."

"What!" Bonnie and Damon shouted simultaneously.

"What? No!, I didn't say anything like that." Stefan was taken aback by Elena's declaration.

"But you said you forgave me."

"I have but that doesn't mean I want to try again. Elena, I will always care about you, but you and I want different things."

Elena disagreed, "I don't want different things. Stefan, I love you. I tried to block it out but I can't. You just don't forget about something like that. Besides, I know you were only with Bonnie to make me jealous."

Bonnie was at a loss for words. She really could not believe that this was happening.

"Elena, I wouldn't use someone you care about to get back at you. "

"Damon told me you were just using Bonnie," Elena asserted.

Until this moment, Damon could remain blissfully unentagled in the Ballad of Stefan and Elena. Apparently, Elena thought it would be in her best interest to involve him.

"I did not tell you that," Damon asserted.

"Yes, you did. I remember after the dinner party that Jenna threw**(1)**, you told me that I shouldn't be upset because Stefan is just using Bonnie."

Bonnie could remain silent no longer. She turned to Stefan and asked him, "Were you? Were you just using me?"

"You know I love you," Stefan answered, almost pleadingly.

"I know you love me now but did you see me as a way to get back at Elena?"

"That was not my intention."

Something about that answer disturbed Bonnie, "What did you intend to do?"

Stefan did not answer right away. That further disturbed Bonnie. Was this all a game? A way to make Elena jealous?

Stefan finally answers, "I never meant to fall in love with you. I just wanted someone who seemed to understand where I was coming from. This wasn't some elaborate plan."

"Now, that she is here in front of you, Do you still love Elena?"

"Yes, Stefan. Do you love me?"

Both women looked at Stefan, searching for some sign that he wouldn't break their heart.

"I love you Elena but I'm--I'm not in love with you anymore. It's not because of what happened with Damon. It's me. I cannot be the person you want so desperately for me to be. I'm not perfect, and every time you realize that, you run away from me. You do it because you can't handle it or you just don't want to deal with it. You expect me to wait for you and if this was another time, I would gladly wait forever. What you and I had is not the same as what Bonnie and I have."

Elena could not believe what she was hearing, "You said you loved me. How can you give up on someone you love?"

"You gave up first," Stefan replied.

At that moment, Damon honestly felt bad for Elena.

* * *

It gets to Stefan. That one day out of the week that Damon and Bonnie go off together, it burns in his chest. And when Bonnie is 'delivered' to Stefan that next day, all in one piece, the relief rushes though his system. He knows that if it were not for Bonnie powers, this situation wouldn't exist, he is sure of it. But that fact does not soothe him. Damon is too content with this situation, he is too smug about it all, and it bothers Stefan that Damon is really needed.

It would be easier if Damon taunted him. He doesn't. He doesn't say a word. But there is this expression on his face that says it all, and Stefan wants to wipe it off so badly.

Bonnie waits. She waits for the other shoe to drop. She waits for Stefan to say that he can't do this, not again.

* * *

She's on top and its great but her eyes are unfocused like she thinking of anything else besides Damon's cock inside her. It annoys him when she does this. It makes him feel cheap, and really, Damon should be used to feeling this way by now.

He thinks maybe it is all the things he's done that turns Bonnie off. He whores himself out to random women because there's nothing like a woman falling all over herself just for one night with him. He drinks too much and he kills too recklessly and he can't bring himself to give a damn about anything he is supposed to care about. Damon is the type where if he hurts you by mistake, he'll say it was his intention all along, just to save face. Just so he won't have to say sorry.

Damon knows that he's running out of time. Somehow, Bonnie will figure a way to get out of this sticky situation even if she has to die trying, and then all of this won't be necessary. Bonnie will not need him to touch her or to hold her or to kiss her or to fuck her. And then what will he do? Everything that he has wanted, he hasn't gotten, and everything that he actually got didn't feel nearly as satisfying as it did to chase it.

Damon wants to hurt Bonnie because she's hurting him. With her indifference, with her blind devotion to Stefan. He wishes Stefan would just suck it up and go back to Elena because no one is perfect. And then Damon can tell Bonnie that he told her so, and then he can dry her tears and teach her how to set the world on fire.

He sees it underneath Stefan's skin, how much it gets to him. But then, Stefan's never really gotten it. Sometimes there are things in this world that is just too good to have it all to yourself. Damon figured out long ago that it was okay that he wasn't enough for Katherine, because she was enough for him. It was okay that Elena was confused because that meant she felt something for Damon that she couldn't explain away. And now this, with Bonnie, he'll make the sacrifice again. Pride went out the door along time ago.

* * *

Stefan thought that it would be better if they went somewhere else so he wouldn't have to deal with seeing them together, but it only makes it worse. Against his better judgment, Stefan made a decision,

"Damon, we should talk."

"Anytime you come lurking for me proclaiming that we have to talk, it's usually just so can give me a lecture. What have I done this time?"

"I don't think its a good idea for you and Bonnie to go out of town."

"And why is that?"

"I just don't think it is a good idea."

"You know she need this, Stefan."

"I'm not suggesting that you stop, I'm just saying that maybe you should stay here."

"You don't trust me."

"Should I?"

"Whatever," Damon dismisses. "We only went to the fleabag motel because of your fragile state."

* * *

Bonnie wondered why Damon wasn't headed towards the next town, but instead driving to the boarding house.

"Where are we going?"

"Stefan has made himself scarce, and I figured it couldn't hurt to try out my mattress for a change."

"No!"

"What do you mean, no?"

"Let me out of the car."

"Don't be ridiculous."

"Now, Damon!"

Damon made not move to stop the car. Bonnie decided to take matters into her own hands. There was a loud noise that sounded alot like back-fire and the car suddenly came to a screeching halt.

"Bonnie, this is not funny."

"You wouldn't let me out."

"This car is a classic."

"Like I care."

"If you have a problem with going to the house then you should take it up with Stefan. It was his idea."

"I don't believe you."

"You could just call him."

Bonnie considered this for a moment. "Why would he suggests such a thing?"

"I don't know, he's being paranoid again. What ever the reason, I am not lying."

There was a momentary pause in discussion. Suddenly, the car started up as if nothing had occurred.

* * *

Stefan comes back a day later, and Bonnie wants to question him about where he has been and what has he been doing but she has no right to. Damon warns her not to push too hard because Stefan knows how to go away and make himself disappear.

Stefan barely looks at Bonnie, and when he does, it looks like he's in pain. He opens and closes his mouth as if to say something but he never does.

Instead, he kisses her with a force that's almost painful, and he holds her to him too tight. Clothes are pulled off like Stefan's impatient. Maybe he is.

Stefan runs his hands over her reverently, like he wants to remember. Bonnie recognizes this desperation. She saw it in Damon that first time.

He doesn't bother laying her down. Just picks her up like its nothing, and slides inside. Bonnie holds on with her arms and her legs. Stefan all but bounced her up and down on his cock, his hands on her ass lifting her and dropping her down with new vigor each time. He meets the downward strokes of her body with the upward strokes of his hips. And all through it he kisses her mouth and her face. Stefan honestly believes that he can't get inside her enough.

"Please...let me," Stefan murmurs, lips pushing against her neck.

And Bonnie says yes because he needed this more than anything.

When Stefan bites into her neck, there is a terrible, burning feeling that connects from her brain to the bottom of her feet. It's in direct opposition to the beautiful thrusting below, and Bonnie fully believes that she will come any second now.

She couldn't help but scream.

**A/N:**

**(1) See Chapter 1**


	6. Chapter 6

**Thanks to anyone who has taken the time to read my story. Reviews are love.**

**Chapter Six**

Bonnie awoken with a scream. She was dreaming about being in a white dress, and there was all of this blood, and she believes that she saw her Grandmother, as if warning her. Bonnie has not had dreams for awhile, because of the spell she cast so she would not invade other people's dreams. To have this dream now, despite everything, means something. Bonnie was not sure what.

Stefan was not lying beside her. The sheets were all mussed and there were spots of blood here and there. Her own blood, Bonnie is sure. At the time, offering her blood to Stefan seemed like an idea worth trying. After all, Bonnie takes energy from him; it is only fair that Stefan should get something in return. It connected Bonnie to Stefan in a way that Damon could not penetrate. Damon has bitten her first, true, but that was out of anger. Stefan had asked for permission.

Stefan doesn't really ask for permission anymore. He bites swiftly and smoothes a hand down her body so she won't panic.

That is not the only change. There is an undercurrent of aggression and power with every movement Stefan makes, and if Bonnie did not trust him so much, she would be afraid. Stefan's sharper at the mouth and sharper in the mind, and Bonnie cannot help but notice how much of a predator Stefan is. In the back of her mind, she knew what he was, but there was always Stefan being on his best behavior.

Damon is peculiar in all of this. He smirks and smiles at Stefan's change as of to say, 'now you have seen it.' He has always warned people about taking Stefan at face value. He has always warned against believing the myth of Saint Stefan.

* * *

There are bite marks spread out all over her body to connect the dots with, and Damon does not like it one bit. Sure, he get's it. Stefan is marking his territory. And if Damon were to be honest, it is not like he would not do the same.

Bonnie's on her hands and knees while Damon is lined up behind her. Damon thinks that she likes it this way because she doesn't have to look at him. She can let out all those breathy moans when he thrusts in deep and she could let out a sharp cry when he pummels the right spot. It is all well and good, but Damon wants her to focus.

He pinches the skin near her hip, and Bonnie's cunt pulses rapid and strong around Damon's cock. Damon thinks, 'now we're on to something.'

* * *

Bonnie begins to feel strangely. It is not like before, where she felt sick to her stomach. It is almost like she's sick in the head. Everything is bleary, and nothing focuses except Stefan's face or Damon's face. It's like tunnel vision. She cannot bring herself to leave Stefan's side. What's worse, she is finding herself increasingly connected to Damon.

She wished that Damon wouldn't try to engage her in conversation. She wants close her eyes and shut her mouth and fuck through it without having to speak or remember where she is and what she is doing.

But, no. Damon insists on hissing her name when there is a particularly good rhythm going on. He insists on kissing her like it means something, and running his hands over her face like there isn't any place he'd rather be. And all the while, Damon asks her things: "Do you like this? Does this feel good? Tell me what you want." How is Bonnie supposed to respond to something like this?

Stefan is no better. One minute, he treats her like a china doll. The next minute, his hands are pressing to hard into her skin, and he kisses like he wants to leave bruises. His teeth have a mind of their own and love sinking into her neck, her thigh, anywhere that he fancies. There was a time when Bonnie used to get dizzy because Stefan would take too much blood, but he has gotten better. He only takes little sips, now. Little sips to have her taste in his mouth.

It fills Stefan with a sort of glee to know that Damon has not had Bonnie in his hands, begging for his bites.

* * *

Bonnie can't keep all of the going-ons in her life to herself, so when she spills the beans to Caroline, it all comes out in a rush, in fragmented thoughts and half sentences, and she is sure there is a sob caught in her throat and a burning in her eyes that tell her she is so damned sad about it all.

Caroline is supportive in a way friends are when they really feel sorry for the situation that you are in but they have not a clue as to how to help you.

"What are you going to do?", Caroline asks.

"I can't change who I am but maybe I could harness energy another way, somehow. It's not a power for me, it's a weakness. Being a Qarinah may help me in the long run, but right now, it's a pain in my ass. I have gotten better with control, though. A room doesn't get wrecked if I'm feeling overwhelmed."

"There must be something you can do."

"I've been reading my grandmother's books and I been raiding the Salvatore library, and there are a few things of interest. For one, the Qarinah 'gift' could lay dormant for years. If this is true, then maybe I could force it into submission."

"That sounds dangerous."

"What else am I to do? Stefan hates this, and Damon is just being Damon, which means that when this becomes boring for him, he'll go bug someone else."

"Elena must be flipping out."

"Um, Elena doesn't know."

Caroline's eye widened at this revelation. Caroline was also secreted honored that Bonnie would trust her foremost. "You haven't told Elena?"

"No, and I would appreciate it if you didn't either. Please don't tell her. I will eventually, but not right now."

"I promise I won't tell her."

"Pinky swear it."

* * *

"...and Stefan's all, 'I love you but I'm not in love with you', and what does that even mean?" Elena and Caroline were having a Girls' Night at Elena's, and as usual, Elena's favorite subject gravitates towards boys.

"Damon won't even talk to me. It is like I did something wrong."

Jenna was out with Alaric and Jeremy was locked in his room. Caroline and Elena decided that it was time for some much needed girl talk. Caroline really wanted to ask Elena if it was Matt's porn addiction that really ruined their relationship but Caroline was at a loss as to how to bring it up. Sex with Matt was wonderful, but there are just some things that Caroline does not want to try. She really doesn't care that Sasha Grey had taken it up the ass in _Anal Cavity Search 6_; there is no way the Caroline is following suit.

Meanwhile, Elena blabbers on, "It's like they both dropped me. Am I not pretty anymore?"

"Elena, you know that you are beautiful. Maybe you need to move on. Tyler is single, you could ask him out."

"Would Matt have a problem with that?"

"He better not."

Just then, the door bell rings. Elena gets up to answer and it turns out to be a pizza delivery man.

"2 large pepperoni pizzas"

"I didn't order anything. Must be Jeremy's." Elena pays the man, and heads up to Jeremy's room with the pizza boxes in hand. When she knocks on the door, there is some shuffling and obvious movement on the other side of the door.

When Jeremy finally opens the door, Elena was set to lay into him about paying her back for the pizza but a few things stop her: The cloud of marijuana smoke drifting out of the room and Tyler Lockwood, shirtless, sweaty and lying on Jeremy's bed with his pants unbuttoned. Jeremy is in a similar state: shirtless, his unruly hair ruffled, sweatpants hanging off his hipbones.

"Thanks, I'll pay you back later," Jeremy rushes to say before Elena gets a word in. Jeremy slams and locks his bedroom door, leaving Elena standing outside of it, looking like a gaping fish.

A moment later, Elena heads to the living room where Caroline is still seated. "I don't think Tyler is going to work out."

* * *

When Bonnie finally tells Elena what is going on between her and the Salvatore brothers, Elena turns this startling shade of red. Her lips thin, and her eyes narrow dangerously. Bonnie is kind of grateful that she picked a public place.

"You're fucking them both."

"It's not like that."

"How is it like? Please explain it to me."

"I can't--I don't know why this has happened to me. We are all miserable about it."

"You know what I don't get, Bonnie; how the Hell could you be such a hypocrite?"

"You're right. I am a hypocrite. I'm not doing anything different that you or Katherine haven't done. You have no idea how sick I am over this."

"What? Are sad because you only have one vagina instead of two."

"Elena!"

"So, how does it work? Do they just spread you between them and take turns?"

"That doesn't sound like a bad idea," A male voice interrupts Elena's tirade. Both Elena and Bonnie turn to see Damon strolling towards them.

"Hello, Elena," Damon says while draping a comforting arm around Bonnie shoulder.

Elena looks from Damon to Bonnie, and becomes quite bothered by the sight of the two, "Both of you are disgusting." With that, Elena storms off. Bonnie tries not to cry.

* * *

"Do you like it?", Stefan asks out of the blue. He and Bonnie are alone, which has become an unusual occurrence over the last several months since Bonnie was told that she was a Qarinah. Damon was out, luring some poor girl into becoming his next meal.

"Like what?" Bonnie responded.

"When Damon touches you."

Bonnie grew alarmed at where this conversation was going. When it first started, Stefan rarely acknowledged the encounters between Damon and Bonnie. Now, he was asking how she felt about it.

Bonnie chose her words carefully, "I don't think it matters."

"You're not answering the question." Stefan becomes agitated at Bonnie avoidance.

"I don't want to talk about this. We are alone. We should be enjoying this time together."

"Do you enjoy him more than you do me?"

"What?, No!"

"You can be honest with me."

"I don't know what you want me to say."

Stefan laughed humorlessly, like it pained him. "I want you to tell me that you love me."

"Stefan, I love you."

"And no one else?"

"No one else."

* * *

Elena does a little research and makes a trip the next state over. She got in contact with a witch, whose spells claimed to be strong and long lasting.

Belle was not afraid to dabble in the black arts. It was her opinion that most witches were too concerned about staying good and pure. According to Belle, what good was it if you couldn't use a little of your natural talent to get what you want in life.

When the doe-eyed Miss Teenage America walked in, wanting to put a spell on some vampires, Belle did not shy away from the challenge. Sure, it was tough putting a spell on supernatural entities but vampires were actually pretty simple to manipulate with magic.

The spell was to bind the vampires to the woman that the brother's could not live without. Belle never promised that the woman would be Elena.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

Elena returned to Mystic Falls with a pep in her step. She was confident that everything would work itself out. Elena did feel some guilt over going to a Witch, but it is not like she wanted Belle to cast a love spell. She just wanted the Salvatore brothers to come to their senses. They both have feelings for her and if they could just get over their pride, everything will be as it should.

Elena was not concerned with the situation with Bonnie. Bonnie was trying to figure a way out of her situation, anyway. Elena could have her boys back, and she could have her best friend back too.

* * *

Belle did everything the young girl asked. Belle thought the girl would've been better off requesting a love spell, but no, Elena seemed to think it was nobler somehow to bind the vamps to their true love. Either the girl was very sure of herself, or very stupid. Belle was betting on stupid.

* * *

Bonnie spent all day looking through books, reading anything she could get her hands on. A few were dead-ends but one caught her attention. The myth of the Qarinah originated from the animistic beliefs of pre-Islamic Arabia. In Omdurman, the Qarinah is a spirit which possesses, and only certain people are possessed such as individuals with 'second sight', or Witches.

If this is true, that would mean that being a Qarinah wasn't something innate. That would mean that Bonnie was possessed by the Qarinah.

Bonnie had finally found a way to stop all of the madness.

Natalie, of course, was displeased with this latest development. If one were not meant to possess the Qarinah, then one did not receive it. But to reject such a gift was down right disrespectful. Natalie did not blame the young Witch, though. She understands that these are different times. Everyone is concerned with monogamy and committed relationships. That is all well and dandy, but sometimes, it is perfectly acceptable to sincerely love and need more than one person. Not just for sex. Not because you don't want any other to have him or her; A real, tangible love.

When Bonnie arrives, the botanical shop is at once emptied of all the people milling about. The atmosphere, which was once sunny and light, dims and there are candles aglow. Bonnie figures its a type of glamour, or something. Bonnie reminds herself to figure out how to do that later.

Bonnie notes the look of displeasure on Natalie's face. Bonnie did not want to disappoint the Witch who was quickly becoming her mentor, but there was no way she could go on with the way things were now.

Natalie spoke first, "Before we began, it is essential that you relinquish all distracting thoughts. It is imperative to have true concentration. I have never done one of these, although I've heard there was one done in Cairo in 1823. There is a good chance that instead of removing the Qarinah, I'll accidently remove your skeletal structure instead."

"What happened to the woman in Cairo?"

"Oh, she died," Natalie responded seriously.

Noticing Bonnie's down-turned expression, Natalie brightened instantly and offered something to relax the girl, "Would you like some tea?"

After drinking the tea Bonnie began to feel so strange. Her head was spinning as if she had awoken with a hang-over instead of having tea a moment ago. It felt like her pulse was pounding right out of her body.

"Relax, Bonnie. It will pass, you will not feel a thing. Relax."

Time had passed. Bonnie opened her eyes to find her vision swimming and her body overly warm. A dark figure was standing over her wearing a white dress. Bonnie felt delirious and closed her eyes once again, trying to will away her fever, her headache, and the strangeness of the day.

* * *

Bonnie awoke suddenly. She was startled to find that she was not at the shop, but in Stefan's room at the Salvatore residence, wearing an oversized t-shirt.

Stefan entered the bedroom first with Damon right in his heels. "How are you feeling?," Stefan asked, his voice portraying the concern he didn't allow his face to show.

"I'm fine. How did I get here?"

Instead of immediately answering that question, Damon asked one of his own, "How could you have been so stupid? You know, you Witches are all the same, going off half-cocked. Why is almost dying so exciting to you women?"

Bonnie paused considerably at this, "I almost died?"

"Yes! Well, no. Not really. But you could have. Sleeping for three days is not normal for a human. Unless you're in a come, or something," Damon, responded stiffly.

"God, I don't remember anything."

"Do you remember going to Natalie?," Stefan prompted.

"Yes. I...she was going to help me. I figured a way out, Stefan. I told you I would..." Bonnie trailed off when the realization dawned on her that she had been asleep for three days.

"Wait, my dad. Oh my God! I have to talk to him. He's probably going crazy. I'm probably going to be grounded into the next decade."

"I've taken care of that," Damon responded, "he thinks you are staying over Elena's house."

"For three days?" Bonnie's asked skeptically.

"Compulsion is a wonderful thing."

"You compelled my father!"

"How else was he supposed to believe that lame ass excuse? It's not like telling the truth would have worked, 'I'm sorry sir, your daughter is sleeping off her coma at her boyfriend's place after a ill fated attempted to de-possess herself.' Yeah, that would have gone over well."

"Did it work?," Bonnie asked suddenly.

The brothers knew what she meant but there was no way to answer her. They simply did not know. Bonnie looked from one brother to the other, waiting for either to respond.

Finally, Stefan broke the silence, "We're not sure."

"Well, have either of you dreamt?"

"Why would that make a difference?," Damon asked.

"I have obviously been unable to cast any sort of spell to suppress dreaming. The dreaming would have started up right away, at least in Damon's case."

"I haven't dreamt about anything," Damon responded.

Bonnie jumped out of bed in excitement. "Stefan, it worked! I have to see Natalie. First, my dad, then Natalie. Actually, a shower, some clean clothes, then dad, than Natalie."

"You can't go see Natalie," Stefan said with much trepidation.

Bonnie stops short, "Why not?"

"We may have threatened bodily harm if Natalie ever again indulged you in your little exorcism fun," Damon responded snidely.

"You may have threatened?"

"Bonnie, Natalie is gone." Stefan hated doing this. He really hated disappointing people he loved.

"Gone where?"

Silence stretched its way across the room. When no answer came, Bonnie asked again.

"Where is Natalie?"

"Truth?," Damon asked. If she wanted to know, then they will tell her, and she will hate them. The important thing was, they were not going to lie to her about it.

"I don't...Which one of you did it?" Bonnie asked.

"I did." Stefan answered truthfully.

Bonnie thought about it for a time. She liked Natalie. Natalie helped her. Natalie was someone she could go to.

"I thought you were in danger ―"

Bonnie held up a hand to stop Stefan from saying anymore, "I don't want to know."

Bonnie walked to the bathroom and shut the door on the Salvatore brothers.

* * *

For the first time in a long time, Bonnie, Elena, and Caroline got together at the Gilbert residence. It was long overdue in the girls' opinion.

Elena had apologized to Bonnie about her outburst regarding 'those who shall remain nameless.' Although Bonnie was shocked at Elena's behavior, she understood why Elena had gotten so angry.

Elena really missed having Bonnie around. Although Caroline was good company, Caroline was a little vapid, and she held on too tight to Matt whenever Elena was around, and Elena really didn't want to give the poor girl a complex. Plus, it didn't hurt that Bonnie was avoiding Stefan. Elena believed that Belle's spell must be working.

Bonnie needed some time away from Stefan. She did not break up with him, but she resented him for whatever must have happened to Natalie. Part if her blamed herself for not letting Stefan knows her plans, but she could not get over the fact that Stefan could have done the unthinkable to Natalie.

* * *

"That is the dumbest idea I've ever heard, and that's saying alot." Stefan could not believe his ears. Damon really didn't believe that this could work, did he?

"Why not? You want to get back in Bonnie's good graces don't you?"

"Compelling Elena into talking Bonnie into forgiving me is ridiculous. It sounds ridiculous. Besides, Elena wears vervain, it would never work."

"No she doesn't. I told her to get rid of it, that it bothered me. It's like vampires wearing condoms to have sex, its unnecessary."

"Elena doesn't use vervain," Stefan stated deadpan.

"Don't look so hurt. I was always better at manipulating Elena then you were. You didn't even try. That was your first mistake."

"Forget it. I'm not going along with this."

"We have to do something!"

Stefan was startled by Damon's outburst. "Why do WE have to do anything?"

"You are not the only one who misses her, okay. Just get her back here to talk or do whatever the hell it is you do."

"Damon, Bonnie's not Katherine."

"I know that."

"She's not Elena, either."

"I know that, too."

"You do know that I won't let you have Bonnie? You know that, don't you?"

"Doesn't matter. You'll learn to share one way or another."


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Thanks for all of the reviews so far!**

**Chapter 8**

"Stefan, we need to talk." When Bonnie called him and said that they should talk, something in him didn't feel right. He couldn't put his name on it but there was just something about the tone of her voice that made him believe that what ever it was that they would talk about, Stefan would not like it.

The only good thing about Bonnie reaching out to him was that at least it kept Damon from doing something rash. Damon was getting antsy, wanting to hatch some plan but luckily, Bonnie was coming over.

When Bonnie arrives, Stefan wants so badly to put his arms around her and to hold her, but Bonnie is withdrawn and quiet; it would be a terrible idea to touch her right now.

Bonnie finally speaks and it's a little broken, as if she's been crying, "I'm going to go away for a bit."

Stefan was not expecting anything like this. He can't form words, he's so startled.

"I, um, I have to figure some things out."

"Is this about Natalie?"

"No, yes, I don't know."

"Bonnie, I'm sorry. I thought ― I don't want anything to happen to you. Ever."

"I know. I know you did it to protect me and I love you for it. I was sitting with some friends the other day, and I was laughing and having a good time. It felt good and it felt natural and I didn't have to worry about anything."

"I love you," Stefan said imploringly.

"I love you too. I love you and I want to be with you more than anything, but I'm only seventeen. How can I promise you forever when I know I don't have forever? Look what happened when you thought I was in danger. I can't put you through that. I can't put myself through that." Bonnie said all of this and she meant it. With tears in her eyes and emotion clogging her throat, she meant it.

"Where are you going to go?"

"I'm going to finish the school year in California with my aunt. My dad already agreed."

Stefan stared at her disbelievingly. When he realized that she was serious and that there was nothing to be done to change her mind, Stefan slowly exhaled with resignation. "What about us?"

"I don't want you to wait for me or anything. I want you to move on."

"There will never be anyone else for me."

"You don't mean that. If you and Elena had not broken up, you would not have looked twice at me."

"Please, don't do this. If you want to get away, then we will get away. We'll go anywhere you want to go."

"I have to do this by myself. I know you don't understand it, but I have to. I'm a witch. I will never be just a regular girl and I have to figure out what that means for me."

Bonnie knew she shouldn't but she couldn't resist reaching up to him, to kiss him one last time. Stefan wraps his arms around her and she feels like she's making a mistake, like she really shouldn't go.

Bonnie pulls away, and at first, it seems like Stefan will not let go. Eventually he does, and the look on his face hurts Bonnie to no end.

Bonnie walks out of his bedroom, closing the door behind her.

Bonnie thinks that by the time she's in the living-room that she is home free, but the air shifts and she knows that she is not alone even before Damon speaks.

"It's about time you showed your face around here. Stefan was looking pretty pathetic."

Bonnie turns to face Damon because what she has to say to him is important.

Damon notices the look on her face and that she's been crying and all joking takes a backseat. "What's wrong?"

"I'm leaving."

"What did Stefan do this time?"

"Nothing. You have to promise me that you will look out for him. I know you love your brother but you have to actually show it. He needs you."

"Where are you going?"

"Promise me."

"You know I'll take care of him. Where are you going?"

"Where I go isn't as important as it is something that I have to do"

"Okay, you want to go, Stefan and I will with you."

"Stefan can't go with me."

"Maybe that is for the best. We can't have him going haywire every time you get into trouble. Let me just grab a few things ―"

"You can not go with, either."

"So, I'm supposed to babysit Stefan until you get back."

"I'm not coming back," Bonnie finally allowed herself to say it. "Goodbye, Damon."

"Wait, what are you..." Damon speeds inhumanly in front of the door before Bonnie can escape.

"You're not coming back?"

"No. I don't think that I am."

"You can't go," Damon said frightenly assertive. Damon's thinking is that 'if she's afraid of me, then maybe she will listen.'

"Damon, please get out of my way."

"I want you to stay."

Bonnie is angry all of a sudden. She couldn't believe that Damon was telling her that he wanted her to stay, as if it is suppose to mean just as much as Stefan asking her to stay.

"I'm not a spoiled little child who wants her cake and will eat it too. I - How can you expect me to - I. am. not. Katherine. I don't want you to fight for my love or and I never asked you compete with another man for my attention. Don't pretend that you care. "

"Look, I get it. Stefan is so concerned with disappointing you; he's so concerned with not being who you want him to be. I, on the other hand, know what a bastard you think I am."

"Why me, then? Why do you care all of the sudden?"

"If you are expecting me to talk about my feelings, then..."

"No, don't do this. I want you to be serious. Am I this just another way to prove that you could take your brother's girlfriend?"

"You don't get it."

"Then help me understand."

"I want to see you happy. I want you to be happy even if I am not the one who makes you happy."

"So you want Stefan and I to live happily ever after."

"Make no mistake, I want you. If you give me a chance, I will always try to show you that I want you."

"What if I don't want you?"

"You're not a very good liar."

* * *

**[Three Years Later]**

Mystic Falls did not change a bit. Now the people of Mystic Falls, that was a different story.

A large part of Bonnie wanted to run straight to the Salvatore residence. From her phone conversations with Caroline, it seemed that the brothers where still there. But there was nothing she could say to them. Bonnie was not sorry about leaving. It needed to happen.

When Bonnie left, she was half expecting Stefan to get back with Elena. Not for lack of trying, as Caroline has told her. Apparently, Elena tried to rekindle the spark between her and Stefan. It didn't go as planned, much to Elena annoyance.

Damon was a little more receptive. They had sex, and it was as amazing as anything. But there was this hesitance in his hands, and there was a far away look in his eyes. What angered Elena was that she knew, she just knew that Damon was not with her in their intimate moments. He was somewhere else, maybe with a Witch by his side.

When Caroline told Elena that Bonnie was coming back, Elena was happy. She missed her so much. It was not like Stefan was going to run back to Bonnie, after three years. And Damon was at least enraptured with Elena.

* * *

Bonnie walked into an empty house. The Bennett residence used to be busier then this, at least. Bonnie's father was not joking when he said he wanted to leave, and that the home just wasn't the same without Bonnie.

Bonnie wondered if she was making a mistake coming back. Should she have just stayed away for good?

* * *

Damon waited because it was all he could do.

Bonnie knew where to find them if she wanted to. Besides, Elena was here right now, and it would have been awkward if Bonnie showed up.

Stefan came home from hunting. Damon excused himself from Elena's presence to fill his little brother in on the latest development.

"The Witch is back."

Stefan took off his jacket and appeared to not have heard him.

Damon tried again, "Bonnie's back home."

"I know."

Damon was shocked but held himself in the most controlled manner.

"You know?"

"I went past the Bennett residence. I saw her."

"What did she say?"

"I didn't talk to her." Stefan brushed by Damon, heading toward the living-room. Damon stopped him before Stefan went any further, "Elena's in there."

Stefan stopped short.

"What is she doing here?"

"Elena came by to pay me a visit; spinning tales of happily ever after. She totally believes it. So, what shall we tell our dear Elena?"

Stefan was confused. "About what?"

"Well, Elena has to leave. She can not be here when Bonnie arrives."

"What makes you think that Bonnie will come here?"

"Do you still love Bonnie?"

"Of course."

"Then she'll be here."

Damon eventually took on the task of asking Elena to leave. Elena pretended to be fine with this but there was a sinking feeling, a feeling that said the ride was over. Elena could not believe it. She knew that magic worked. She saw what it could do. Belle had promised that it would work.

Elena walked past Stefan and she instantly knew that all of this was for the Witch. Elena really tried to be there for Stefan. She tried to fill the void but he never really gave her a chance. He just tolerated her for Damon's sake, it seemed.

Elena couldn't walk out the door without speaking her mind, "What it is about her?"

Stefan did not know how to answer, and Damon guessed, quite rightly, that Elena would not really want to her what ever he had to say.

"Elena, you're beautiful. And having you is like holding something precious. I've thought about this. I've thought about this alot. What made me want you. You weren't a very good girlfriend all the time, and I wasn't a very good boyfriend all the time. I'm sorry for that." Damon meant all that he had said. But he still didn't answer the question.

* * *

Bonnie thought about what to do after dinner. she twirled with the idea of calling Caroline and Matt to see if they wanted to hang out. She and Matt were no longer together but they were still good friends. Elena seemed like the next logically choice, but things were a little strained after Elena informed Bonnie that she was with Damon again. She had hoped they were happy but something in Elena's voice revealed that she and Damon were not where Elena wanted them to be. Something in Elena's voice told Bonnie that Elena blamed her for that.

The door bell ranged and Bonnie got up to answer without thinking.

Stefan filled her door way. He looked so beautiful. He looked so sad. It reminded Bonnie of that night in the park when she saw him after his break up with Elena.

"I got tired of waiting," Stefan whispered.

Bonnie was tired of being a fool. She should have known that you can't just run away from love, as if it will wear off somehow. You trust the fire you feel in your stomach and the passion in your heart, and everything else, all the lying, the cheating, the vampires, all of it can go straight to hell.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Thanks to everyone who has reviewed my work.**

**Chapter 9**

Doe Eyes who was formally Miss Teenage America walks in but there's a hardness her face that would make Belle shake if she didn't know full well that she can kick the Beauty Queen's ass.

"It didn't work," is the first thing that comes out of Elena's mouth.

Belle does not need a reminder as to what the girl is referring to. Three years may be a long time for most people but to any supernatural entity, not much can change in that time span. When this girl first walked in years ago, Belle thought that surely, this little girl would get over whatever it is that she wanted and couldn't have. Belle underestimated her; Elena would probably wait for eternity to get what she feels is rightfully hers.

Meanwhile, Belle was a little put off by Elena's insistence that the spell did not work, "Oh, it worked alright. I did exactly what you wanted me to do."

Elena was confused, "So why haven't Stefan and Damon...Why haven't they..."

"Fallen for your charms?," Belle asks, trying to help Elena along.

"That's not what I was going to say," Elena responded angrily.

"If you wanted the boys to fall in love with you again, then you needed a love spell. The spell you asked for only cements devotion to the person that one is already in love with."

"Exactly! Why didn't it work?." Elena asked genuinely.

"This may be difficult for you to hear, but did it ever occur to you that you might not be the love of their lives?"

Belle watched as several stages of emotions sail across Elena's face: there was confusion, marked by the wrinkling of her forehead; then there was denial and anger singed in the thinning of her lips; and finally a widening of her eyes which meant the girl finally got it.

"You have to break the spell. It was a mistake, I was stupid."

Belle wondered if she really meant that or if she just realized she handed the vampires over on a silver platter. Either way, Elena was out of luck.

"I can't do that. There are only two ways out of that spell."

"What are they?"

"Kill the recipient of the devotion."

That was not an option. Elena could admit that to being a petty bitch on occasion, but she was not a murderous petty bitch.

"What's the next option?"

"The brothers would have to fall out of love with whomever it is that's currently reaping the benefits of my spell."

"There's no other way?"

" 'Fraid not."

Elena turned to go, but Belle could not leave things as they were,

"Listen darling, you're older now, and you must know these things you've tried to do where not exactly the most moral of choices. Love, life, all of it is difficult. Trust me, as little intervention as possible from the otherworldly powers is what you should aspire to. Or at least read up on whatever you've got your mind set out to do. It wouldn't kill you."

Elena looked like she was about to cry. She looked tired, and more than a little humiliated. Belle couldn't stand it.

"Oh, come here, let me see if I can do something about the hurt you're feeling."

* * *

Damon lays on Stefan's bed looking up at the ceiling. Two days ago, Stefan decided to cave in first, and went to see Bonnie. It was unfuckingbelievable is what it was. Bonnie left them. She left them and she didn't call, she didn't write, she did not lift one pretty little finger to inquire about them in three years. Bonnie is supposed to beg for Damon's forgiveness, not the other way around. Stefan goes and ruins it.

Damon wonders if Stefan knew about the other guys: Michael, John, the countless others who tried so hard to woo Bonnie. Irritably, Damon didn't know which was worse: the fact that Bonnie never returned their advances or the fact that Bonnie had to know about him and Elena. Bonnie played the nun, Stefan played the monk, but Damon sure as hell didn't want to play the angel.

Damon was completely within his right to see other women (He's lying. There was something in the back of his head that told him if he fucked around enough, Bonnie would come back full of jealously, full of some unnamed emotion that Damon wanted so badly to stake his claim on).

Damon heard feet patter on the walk-way before he heard the front door open and close. By the time Stefan reached his own bedroom, Damon was nowhere in sight and already headed to the Bennett residence. Damon thought that now is as good a time as any to pay the little Witch a visit.

Bonnie opened the door before Damon even knocked. Damon was at once startled by how beautiful Bonnie was. There was something cloudy in her eyes like everything she thought was good in the world, ended up being very bad. Damon wondered what the hell happened in California that he hadn't been able to keep tabs on.

"Aren't you going to invite me in?," Damon asked, trying to be playful but ended up way too serious. Damon didn't need serious right now.

"Can't you just walk in? It's not like your invitation was revoked or anything."

"I know, but it seems so symbolic having you ask me in."

"Damon, please come in."

Damon liked the way Bonnie said 'please' and he vowed that he would make her say 'please' more often.

Damon's thoughts shifted when he stepped inside the room and noted how it was too tidy, as if Bonnie put things together after a hurricane ran through. Even Bonnie's appearance itself looked off; she was too clean and it was obvious she had just taken a shower.

"So, you and Stefan are back at it?," What was meant as a joke, sounded more like an accusation.

"Stefan and I have an understanding. We've decided to start over. We are going to be friends first, and whatever happens..." Bonnie trailed off, hoping that she wouldn't have to continue to talk about this.

"Friends?," Damon asked skeptically.

"Yes, friends. Platonic, even."

"What part of friends involves fucking each other senseless?"

Bonnie blinked rapidly, "I don't want to talk about this with you."

"But I thought we were friends."

"Damon, we were never friends. But you helped me when I needed you and I will always be grateful to you for that."

Damon realized that Bonnie was right. Damon and Bonnie's relationship could not be described as friendship.

"By the way, Gina says hello."

Damon pretended not to know whom she was referring to, but Bonnie continued anyway.

"I don't like being followed."

Damon instantly regretted putting Gina on the job. If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself.

"Don't worry, she was discreet enough. I almost didn't notice."

Damon really did not want to hear how his brilliant plan to track Bonnie failed, so he used the next best diversion.

"You're single, then."

"What?" Bonnie was taken aback by the change in topic.

"If you're not Stefan's girlfriend anymore, then that means you are single."

Bonnie sighed with exasperation, "Can we talk about something else?"

"I meant what I said before you left."

"I don't want to talk about that either."

"Even though you're back in Mystic, you are still running."

"I'm not running from anything or anyone. I just don't want to talk about your delusions."

"I was there, remember. I was in that motel room with you when you were going through your little crisis. It felt real to me. Admit it, you still think about it."

"Just because I am attracted to you, it doesn't mean I like you."

"I can change that."

Bonnie and Damon for a moment stared at each other willing the other to speak up first.

"What brought you back?" Damon had to ask the question because it was killing him not to know.

"It's Elena. She's going to get herself into some serious trouble."

"What kind of trouble could Elena get herself into?," Damon asked disbelievingly.

"Do you know a witch by the name of Belle?"


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far.**

**Chapter 10**

"Should I recognize that name?," Damon asked.

"Belle Aitori in her formative years would have put Elizabeth Bathory to shame."

"What does that have to do with Elena?"

Bonnie sighed deeply, "You are not going to like this."

"Just tell me."

"A few months before I left, Elena contacted Belle."

"What would Elena want with a witch?"

"At first, I thought maybe Elena needed help with something, and wasn't comfortable coming to me for some reason, but..."

"But?"

"She asked Belle to do a spell."

"What kind of spell?"

"That, I am not sure of. There could be a number of spells that required szűzies vér."

"Then how do you know Elena's in trouble?"

"I came in contact with one of her ingredient suppliers in Cali. She warned me to stay clear of Belle, and to tell my friend to do the same."

"Figures that all of you witches would know each other. What's 'szűzies vér'?"

"Roughly, it means 'virgin's blood' in Hungarian."

"Now I know Elena is definitely not in trouble. Her cherry is long gone."

"You are missing the point. That fact that a witch would need such an ingredient in a spell speaks volumes. Whatever Elena asked Belle for, it was serious. Belle is going to want some type of repayment that is just as serious, and I am not talking about money."

Damon sobered at that thought; he didn't want Elena to be hurt, "What's the plan?"

"I don't know yet. I was hoping you could talk to Elena, maybe get her to distance herself from Belle."

"What makes you think she would listen to me?"

"What's this? The great Damon Salvatore not sure he could keep his girlfriend in check?"

"First, thank you for acknowledging my greatness; second, Elena is not my girlfriend."

"Funny, that's not what she said."

"You and I both know Elena has a flair for the dramatic."

"Are you or are you not sleeping with her?"

"Yeah, I WAS sleeping with her."

Bonnie paid no heed to Damon's stress on the past tense, and continued with her point, "You and I both know that Elena doesn't do casual sex."

"Oh, you'd be surprised at the kind of things she does."

"I really don't need to hear that."

"Does it make you jealous?"

Bonnie blinked hard and asked, almost threateningly, "Why would I be jealous?"

"That Elena is the one holding me, kissing me, touching me." Damon moved closer with each word, until he was standing only inches apart from Bonnie.

"Elena is good for you, she makes you human."

"What could you make me?"

Bonnie laughed humorlessly, breaking eye contact with Damon. "Why can't you be serious?", Bonnie asked when she finally looked up at Damon again.

"I am being serious. Whatever Elena and I have is not as serious as you think it is. I care about her, of course."

"I'm not with Stefan anymore, hasn't the thrill of stealing me away left yet?"

"See, you say you're not with Stefan but I don't believe you. During this little reunion between to two of you, you slept with him didn't you?"

"Why we are discussing this is beyond me."

"That's a yes. Friends my ass."

"Whatever Stefan and I did, or didn't do is none of your business."

"Yet I'm here discussing my sex life with Elena."

"Listen, you care about her. I want you to protect her."

"What's in this for you? It's not like Elena's been the greatest friend to you. Yet, you came back just for her. Just to save her life."

"I will always remember our friendship."

"You know, you have no one to blame but yourself. If you hadn't gotten with Stefan in the first place, you and Elena would still be the best of friends."

Bonnie smiled at that, "If you weren't such a rat bastard, Elena would have been with Stefan, and you would be drinking your pitiful excuse of a life away."

"And we were playing so nice," Damon responded.

"Like anything else, that got old pretty quickly."

* * *

Caroline practically squealed her excitement at getting together. Overall, it was not a bad night; although, Bonnie really didn't need to hear the history of Caroline and Matt while trying to get some sort of buzz from the weak ass beer she's drinking.

There was this guy at the bar, staring openly at Bonnie, and she knew, she absolutely knew, that she could take him home and fuck him and it wouldn't mean a thing. But, Bonnie would feel disloyal somehow.

Caroline continued talking, "If Matt knew you were back, I'm sure he would have put off visiting Tyler in New York. Jeremy lives there too. He and Tyler are like neighbors or something, isn't that weird?"

"No, it's not weird at all, considering..."

"Considering what?"

"Nothing, never mind."

"So."

"So."

"You meet anyone special in California?"

"No, not really. I've made friends."

"Friends, " Caroline responds, deadpan.

"Why is 'friends' such a bad word?"

"It's not, it's not. I just...you should be happy."

Bonnie thought for a moment, "Surprisingly, I am."

Caroline shrugged her shoulders, glancing down at her phone for the tenth time that night.

Bonnie broke the silence, "You keep looking at your phone. Expecting a call?"

"Matt was supposed to call me to let me know how his trip was going."

"You still love him."

"What? No," Caroline dismissed with a shake of her head.

"It's okay. He still does something to you."

"Do you still love Stefan?," Caroline asked, frankly.

"I wish I could say that I don't, but it's still there under everything. I can't get over how much he means to me. And I... I've changed. I've changed, Caroline. I don't know if he still wants me. It feels like he does." Maybe the beer was doing its job, then.

Damon walks in and Bonnie instantly curses herself for meeting Caroline at good, old, dependable Mystic Grill when she should gone some place new.

Damon is startlingly aware of her, it's almost painful how aware of her he is. But he couldn't spend one more minute at the house with Stefan. Stefan's need for Bonnie was becoming stifling, and it made Damon want to hit something hard and brutal. Part of Damon wished she hadn't come back, then he wouldn't have a face to put to this insane feeling she inspires within him.

Bonnie really tried to ignore Damon but it was hard because he was looking at her, staring at her, really; daring her to get up from the table and tell him to stop.

Bonnie did excuse herself from the table she and Caroline were setting and strolled, purposefully toward Damon.

Damon thought fleetingly of the things he could say to her; something funny, perhaps. Something sexy, something to seduce her. Damon was afraid that he'll say the first thing that came to mind.

"Did you tell Elena?"

Damon glanced around casually, suddenly confused at what they are suppose to be talking about, "What?"

"Have you told her to stay away from Belle."

"I haven't spoken to her."

"Has Stefan?"

"Is that all you worry about? I'm right here in front of you. Stefan is not."

Bonnie turned her face away from him. Nowadays, it was getting harder to look at Damon.

"I only asked because I want to know if anyone has spoken to her recently."

Damon calmed down. He calmed down because Bonnie was _thisclose_ to leaving his side and that bothered him to no end.

"Have a drink with me."

"I can't, I'm with Caroline."

"Ditch her, and have a drink with me. We can talk about saving Elena and all that other junk."

"I really should get back to her," Bonnie turned to go.

Damon grabbed her forearm, his grip strong but gentle. "Caroline will understand. Elena needs you."

Bonnie thought about that and realized that she really should figure out what to do about Elena.

"Okay, I'll be back," Bonnie turned and headed straight toward Caroline telling her some spiel that Damon couldn't care to listen to. The point was, she was ditching Caroline and coming back to him. It didn't matter that he had just used Elena to get his way.

The two women hugged goodbye, and promised to meet up again tomorrow. Summer was beautiful in Mystic and maybe the girls could go to the park.

Damon noted the guy who was not so discretely checking out Bonnie. Damon considered speeding over to the young man and commanding him to jump off a bridge, but Damon was unsure if that would go unnoticed to the Witch.

When Bonnie was in front of him again, Damon asked, "Does that guy know you or something?"

"What guy?"

"The guy over there."

Bonnie looked, and responded, "No, I don't know him."

"Well, he wants to know you."

"Damon, are you jealous?"

Damon took his time to answering, "No, because I know you. I know you in ways that he will never know you. I know the ridiculously beautiful smile you give when you are just so happy. I know when that mouth of your is down turned in sadness. I know that slow blink you give when you're thinking, and that hard blink you give when you're angry. But that gentleman over there is not interested in knowing all of that. He wants to know what you look like naked, under him, with his hands all over you. For a moment, I knew what that was like too."

* * *

In the middle of a set, Stefan counted 548 pull-ups. Damon arrives home late, yet again. He has the smell of Bonnie all around him, and some other nameless female that he must have hooked up with before he finally came home.

Stefan is trying to respect Bonnie's wishes by not crowding her but the distance is like a slow ache. It doesn't help that Damon seems to have found his footing with the Witch.

"This exorcise kick you're on would be amusing if it wasn't just slightly annoying."

Stefan barely spared a glance at his brother and continued on with his ministrations.

"Has Elena been around?"

"Why would she be here? After you promptly kicked her out I haven't heard from her."

Damon frowned at that. That couldn't have been the last time they've seen her, could it? "Are you sure you haven't seen her since?"

"What's this about?"

"According to our favorite Witch, Elena may have gotten herself in trouble."

"What kind of trouble?"

"Don't worry about it, I'll take care of it."

"Damon."

"I have it all under control."

* * *

"This place looks sort of grimy doesn't it? I've never pictured anyone with any sort of taste to hang out here."

Damon and Bonnie sat inside a perpetual college sports bar in Vienna, Virginia.

"We will be out of here shortly. I just want to talk to someone who knows Belle. Her shop hasn't been open for a week now."

"That's a good thing, then, isn't it?"

"Have you gotten in touch with Elena?"

"No."

"Then it is not a good thing."

A striking Blonde walks in a few minutes later, and Bonnie gets up from the table she's sharing with Damon. He starts to get up to, but Bonnie slight hand gesture tells him not to.

Bonnie walks over to the Blonde and they talk something that Damon couldn't care to understand, and he only listens carefully when Elena's name is mentioned, or this Belle person who seems to put the blonde on edge.

Bonnie comes back to the table and tells Damon that it's time to go.

"What was that about?"

"Didn't you hear?"

"I wasn't really focusing. Why didn't you let me talk to her with you?"

"Vampires make her nervous."

"I don't make you nervous."

"No. You don't."

The two walked in silence for a bit until they reached the car. Once inside, Bonnie turned the radio on to block out the thoughts swirling around in her head.

"What are you worried about?" Damon asked from behind the wheel.

"I don't know where Belle is and I don't know where Elena is."

"This Belle, why is everyone so freaked out about her?"

"Because she is scary. She doesn't respect rules of nature, of humanity. What's worse is that she comes off so nice and understanding. It would be so easy to trust her."

The two sat in silence as Damon drove on. When they passed one of the motels they used to go to, Damon couldn't keep his mouth shut, "Do you still think about it?"

Bonnie knew what he was referring to but how does one respond to that?

When Bonnie doesn't say anything, Damon loses his patience and the car comes to an abrupt stop. It was ironic because Bonnie could remember a time when this happened before but Damon was the cause this time, not Bonnie's powers.

"Why can't you admit it? Is it so repulsive to you that you can't admit it?"

"What do you want me to say? I don't understand why you can't just let it go."

"Because I can't!"

In all of the time Bonnie has known him, Damon never raised his voice, ever. And though he may be wild, he's always in control. His destructive habits have always been on purpose. It was more than a little disconcerting to see this loss of control now.

"I wish that I could let it go. I don't want to feel this way about you. But it's...it's like...it hurts when I'm not near you, when I can't see you, when I can't touch you. And there is something inside of me that feels so wrong without you and I think that maybe I love―"

Bonnie didn't want to hear it, so she shut him up the only way she could. She kissed him. She used her lips and her tongue and her teeth to shut him up. She framed his face with her hands and she kissed him because she didn't want to hear him say that he loved her. Where the hell has love gotten her so far?


	11. Chapter 11

**Thanks to everyone for all of the reviews so far.**

**Chapter 11**

It's not like it is the first time the two have kissed but it might as well had been. There was urgency in this particular kiss that was so unlike all previous romantic episodes. Those past events were something that one could forget about later on; something that one could pretend didn't happen. For some unknown reason, Bonnie was trying to do that now. The kiss will come off sloppy in its unfilteredness and bitey with lots of teeth because Bonnie's angry damn it, and she just wanted him to shut up.

But Damon needs it to slow down, needs her to slow down; so he places his hand in her hair and the grip is a little hard because Bonnie won't listen to tender. He moves away to take a breath that he doesn't need and then dives back in.

Under Damon's control, the kiss becomes softer, but no less hungry. Damon thought of this kiss as a drink, it was something to savor, if you could help it. Drinking it all in one go would leave one unsatisfied.

Bonnie seemed to remember herself, then. She remembered that although she preempted Damon's disastrous speech, she was kissing him, and no good could come of that. When Bonnie pulls away, Damon doesn't fight, although for a second is seems as if he just might. He let's go, and he untangles his hand from her hair. Damon licks the taste of her kiss off his lips because he knows that he will remember that here, in the middle of nowhere, Bonnie kissed him and it wasn't because of some psychosexual crisis.

Bonnie knows that Damon must be thinking all kinds of things, so she brings up the one thing that could possibly snap him out of it. "I think we should tell Stefan about Elena.

Damon's face loses the soft expression, his jaw sets and Bonnie knows that he is angry. She's is not sure if it was the mention of Elena, or if it was the mention of Stefan that has Damon so closed off. Bonnie has succeeded, though: Damon doesn't say a word the rest of the drive home.

Stefan experience mixed emotions after learning that Bonnie and Damon embarked on this "find Elena" mission. Stefan is relieved that there is some kind of explanation for the time that the two have been spending together. At the same time, Stefan is hurt Bonnie and Damon decided to find Elena without bothering to include him.

Bonnie explains that she believed Damon was the most likely to help because Damon and Elena were dating to some extent.

Bonnie is sill working on autopilot. She wants to find Elena and Belle before it's too late. It is clear that Bonnie, Stefan and Damon can not confront Belle until they understand exactly what they are dealing with. All of this gives Bonnie a headache.

* * *

**St. Louis, Missouri**

Belle always believed that Elena was sadder then she let on. The full story comes and it is not surprise: The dead parents, the adoption, the vampire birth mother, the estranged brother, blah blah blah. Belle believed that Elena was always destined for a life surrounded by witches and vampires.

The two women were hold up in old warehouse that was currently being used as a rave locale. Belle watched as Elena danced around and around with no sign of stopping. Elena looked freer than she's ever been. Belle caused that, she made that happen.

Belle was running out of time. The cavalry were on their way to 'rescue' Elena, and Belle really needed them to stay away until she was ready.

"They are coming, you know." Belle spoke and Elena stop dancing immediately.

"They're coming?"

"Yes, your friend, that Bonnie girl, And those Salvatores you care so much about."

Elena looked confused and a little scared, "I didn't tell them anything."

"I know you didn't, its fine. Why don't we reach out to them, let them know that you're okay."

* * *

Two vampires and a witch walk into a motel and it sounds like the beginning of a bad joke. Bonnie still had a headache, and it was becoming worse with all of this tension between the three of them. Bonnie did not regret telling Stefan or bringing him along, but Damon did nothing to hide the fact that he did not want Stefan around.

The three decided to check into a Motel 6 in South Lindbergh Boulevard, St. Louis. For Bonnie, motels always represented a miniscule degree of privacy. At motels, people pretty much minded their own business. At hotels, your neighbor in the next room could easily call to the concierge to complain of strange noises.

The Salvatores could easily afford rooms at a luxury hotel, but Bonnie did not want to draw attention. Belle had eyes everywhere, and there is a good possibility that she has already been altered to the fact that the three of them were in town.

Bonnie requested separate living quarters, and didn't stick around to see what Stefan and Damon decided on.

The rooms next to Bonnie where already occupied. Damon excused himself from checking in at the front desk and swiftly located one of the occupied rooms. Damon may or may not have compelled a vacationing family to sign out right now instead of staying the extra day the way they had originally planned. Stefan didn't like it. Bonnie wouldn't like it, either, when she found out. Damon couldn't care less.

Once the room was properly vacated, Damon decided that now was as good a time as any to get settled. Upon entering the room, Damon thought that this trip was a waste of time. It is not like Elena was a little girl lost. She was a grown woman who knew what was out there.

When Damon turns on the lights in the room, the sight before him is startling, but not altogether unpleasant.

"Where are your manners? Say hello to Damon," a petite red-headed woman setting next to Elena commanded.

"Hi Damon!," Elena seemed off, way too giddy for Damon's liking,

Damon turned to the unidentified woman, "Let me guess, you're Belle, right?"

"In the flesh," Belle responded.

"Looks like we didn't have to go looking for you after all."

Damon intended on grabbing the witch, maybe tear her head off and gorge on her blood, but Damon's speed and strength felt sluggish, and Belle easily side-stepped any attack.

"Yeah, about that, all of that vampire crap doesn't work on me nearly as well as you want it to. Besides, I didn't come here to fight you. Be a doll and listen very carefully: If you want the pretty princess back, Bonnie has to come and get her from me without you two bozos to help her. Bonnie knows where to find us. If I even suspect that you and your brother are waiting in the wings somewhere, I'll kill Elena and Bonnie."

With that, Belle turned to the disturbingly docile Elena, and talked to her as if she were a pet, "Let's go sweetie, our job here is done."

* * *

"You should have gone after them," was the first thing Stefan said when Damon was finally able to alert the others.

"I would have if it didn't feel like a hundred elephants were setting on my chest."

"Its necromancy," Bonnie chimed in. Belle was able to raise and control the dead. Vampires were prime targets for this sort of magic because they were undead.

Bonnie turned to leave the room, but Stefan grabbed her hand before she could get out of the door.

"Where are you going?," Stefan asked.

"You heard what Belle wants. I'm going to get Elena."

"No, you are not going. Not alone." Damon insisted.

"Having you two there will make it worse. You have to let me go."

Stefan did not want Bonnie to go at this alone. "We're going with you."

"I'm sorry about this," Bonnie whispered before saying "dormite," commanding the brothers to sleep. Bonnie knew that she would have hell to pay when they woke up.

Bonnie's previous research indicated that Belle was big on hiding out at warehouses. Bonnie pulled out her phone and used Google Maps to locate warehouses near the Motel 6 that Bonnie and the Salvatore brothers were staying.

The 'U S Metals and Supply' sign was barely visible outside of the large space. There was an underlining tension in Bonnie's body; she was prepared for one hell of a confrontation.

Belle acknowledged the young witch as she walked into the warehouse. Bonnie eyes roved the space, centering on Elena, who seemed dazed and fearful.

"I'm here. You can let Elena go."

"Indeed." Belle turned to Elena and commanded, "Walk right out of here and don't come back. Better yet, find the Salvatore brothers, I'm sure they'll be happy to see you."

Elena did as Belle said, not bothering to acknowledge Bonnie, and seemingly not aware of her surroundings. Elena knew that she must do what Belle has commanded, to leave and not return. She must go to the motel that she last saw Damon. Belle commanded her to do so.

Once Elena was out of harms way, Belle turned to the young witch. "You've been a bad girl, Bonnie; leaving witches at the hands of vampires, mere demons really."

"I haven't the slightest idea of what you are talking about."

"I see, this is the selective memory game. Let's jog your memory, shall we: Remember Natalie? You remember Natalie, don't you? You let her die. You let my sister be ripped to shreds. And for what? She did you a favor. She helped you. Natalie and I may not have gotten along but I would never have let her die at the hands of two emotional vampires wanting to play hero to save their little witch!"

Belle having a sister never came up in all of Bonnie's research. Natalie had never alluded to having family. Bonnie was stunned.

"Belle I'm so sorry about Natalie. I really cared about her and ―"

"Liar! Stop lying!," Belle interrupted. "She was a means to an end for you. She stopped you from being a slut; falling in bed with two brothers, how shameful that must have been for you. Instead of sucking it up like a real woman, you wanted to find a cure", Belle retorted, mockingly.

"I know I owe Natalie, I didn't want it to end the way it did. I thought that I was the only one in danger.

Belle's clapping was a mockery of applause, "You are so very convincing. You know, if I wasn't so pissed at you, we could have been good together. But I hate you, and I want you dead. "

Bonnie didn't know what to say. The woman in front of her couldn't have been more than thirty years of age, yet Belle had been practicing magic for more than twenty years. Bonnie didn't see the resemblance to Natalie at first, but it was in the eyes, the round blue eyes that were currently narrowed towards Bonnie with such venom.

"The clock is ticking for you. Did he claim you yet, little witch? I bet he did. Do the Salvatores know? Couldn't they tell the change in you?"

Belle attempted to make Bonnie bind under her will with her mind. It should have been easy; Elena was human, and enthralling her was a piece of cake. Damon was a vampire and it was just as easy.

Bonnie felt lightheaded and realized that Belle was attempting to control her, as if she were the living dead. That's the thing with Belle, she always jumped to conclusions.

It was taking longer than usual to subdue Bonnie. Bonnie saw the panic in Belle's eyes and seized the opportunity.

Bonnie simply imagined all of the cells in Belle's body igniting into a vicious fire.

Suddenly, Belle's body erupted in flames. Belle yelled with pain, the smell of burning flesh and hair quickly arose throughout the air.

Apparently, Belle's Big Bad reputation was highly exaggerated.

* * *

Bonnie and Stefan sat facing each other. The room was dark because the lights bothered Elena, who was currently resting inside the room. Elena had made her way to the Motel 6, lucky that her single-mindedness to do as Belle commanded didn't get her hit by a car or worse while walking through the streets.

Both Damon and Stefan were shocked to see Elena in such a state, her eyes unfocused and clearly still under the thrall of Belle. Belle's death had seemed to snap Elena out of it. It was starting: the confusion, then the stark realization of where she was and how Belle had used her. She face crumbled, then. It seemed as if every tear she refused to shed over the last years had come pouring out. There was self-loathing there, disgust, and much sadness. If only she had never sought out Belle.

The brothers were furious that Bonnie decided to confront Belle on her own. They were doubly furious that Bonnie put them to sleep as if they were mere children up past their bedtime.

Bonnie didn't say anything to the brothers when she returned. Her first priority was easing Elena from the total mind-fuck that Belle put her through.

Bonnie only relayed the details of her confrontation with Belle after Elena was sedated.

And now here they were, Stefan and Bonnie, facing each other, knowing that there are some things between them that were completely overdue.

Bonnie absolutely knew that she and Stefan could not go back to where they were before. No matter how she felt about him, or how he felt about her, things have changed. She had to get back to California immediately.

Stefan takes her hand in his, and the devotion from him feels like a punch in the heart.

Stefan opens his mouth to speak, but Bonnie places her fingers to his lips. The less he said, the better this would go.

"I won't be going be going back to Mystic with you."

Confusion flashed across Stefan's face briefly, and then flattens to a blank visage, "Why?"

"I have to go back to California."

"You came back to me. I thought we were going to take things slowly."

"You will always be my friend, but I can't stay."

Realization dawned, "You only came back for Elena."

Bonnie nodded her agreement because she couldn't trust her voice.

"I thought you came back because we loved each other."

"I do love you, but that is not enough. I have other obligations now."

"What other obligations?"

Bonnie ignored the question, "You have to be the one to take care of Elena."

"I will help Elena anyway that I can, but―"

"She did all of this for you," Bonnie interrupted. "Elena has always loved you."

"I don't feel that way about her anymore."

"You can't tell me you were not affected when you saw how she was earlier. She needs you. She needs Damon. You both have to be there for her."

"What about you? Whose there for you?"

"I would be a distraction. I would just make Elena feel insecure, which is how Belle wormed her way in. I don't know, maybe Belle would have found a way to get to me anyway because of what happened with Natalie. But Elena was left to her own devices because she felt abandoned by everyone. She was an easy mark."

"Elena needs you to."

"Not as much as she needs you. Do it because you care about her. Do it because you care about me. Just let me go."

"I don't think I can love her the way that you want me to."

"You don't have to. It doesn't have to be about you and me."

* * *

Bonnie didn't intend on speaking to Damon before she left, simply because she couldn't figure out what to tell him. What could she say?

Damon didn't give her much of a chance to get out of dodge before facing him. He was waiting inside her room when she returns from her powwow with Stefan. The fact that Bonnie still thinks she could avoid him was amusing.

Damon lounged on her bed comfortably as if nothing harrowing has happened in the past several hours.

As Bonnie packed what little she had brought with her, Damon began to talk as if he enjoyed hearing the sound of his own voice, "Stefan needed to here it from you. You put just the right amount sincerity in your voice. Who knows, maybe those two crazy kids will find there way back to each other."

Bonnie couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic. Knowing Damon, he probably was.

"Where are we going?," Damon suddenly asked.

"WE aren't going anywhere. You are going back to Mystic Falls, and I am going back to California."

"California," Damon said, nodding. "Santa Barbara, wasn't it? I'm not really fond of all that sun but if it means you get to wear less clothing then I'm an avid supporter."

"You can't be serious."

"And you can't deny that we have something."

"One day, I promise that we will sit down and talk about our feelings. That day is not today. Goodbye."

Damon swiftly moved in front of the door, blocking her escape. "You can't keep doing this. You can't just run away from everything."

"I'm not running away from anything. I'm running to something, if anything," Bonnie stated under her breath.

That sparked Damon's interest. "What's in California for you?"

"Damon, please get out of the way."

"Answer my question and I'll move."

"Or I could just make you move."

"Let's not do anything hasty."

"Then move."

"Tell me what's going on."

"I don't want to have this discussion with you."

Damon moved closer to Bonnie until the space was scarce between them. "I have ways that I could torture it out of you. Pleasurable ways, but its still torture."

"I can't get into this with you."

"Why not?"

"Please move."

"What are you hiding?"

"Damon, I am warning you."

"What's got you so scared?"

"I'm not scared."

"This place reminds me of that motel we used to go to. You hated the heart-shaped bed, but I thought it had character."

"Would you please just ―"

Damon reached a hand up to light graze his fingers against Bonnie face. "You liked it when I pulled your hair."

Bonnie did not want to take a trip down memory lane with Damon. Bonnie blurts out "I have to go home to my fiancé."

Damon drops his hand from her face as if he'd been burned. Damon, who is usually better at controlling his emotions, bares a mixture of disbelief and hurt on his face.

In her desperateness to shut him up, Bonnie may have told him more than she wanted to.

"Could you repeat that again?" Damon could not have heard that right.

"I'm engaged to be married."


	12. Chapter 12

**Thanks for all of the reviews so far.**

**Chapter 12**

_She was dreaming about being in a white dress, and there was all of this blood, and she believes that she saw her Grandmother, as if warning her. (I Want To Touch You, Chapter 6)_

_A dark figure was standing over her wearing a white dress. Bonnie felt delirious and closed her eyes... (I Want To Touch You, Chapter 7)_

"You're engaged?," Damon asked incredulously.

"Yes."

"To whom?"

"It doesn't matter."

"The hell it doesn't." How could Bonnie drop a bombshell like that and refuse to explain further.

"Do you love him?" Damon seemed to have this incredible knack for torturing himself.

"I don't love him." Bonnie chose to answer honestly.

Something like relief passes across Damon's face. "Then why are you marrying him?"

"Because I have to. I don't expect you to understand. "

"You kissed me knowing that you had a fiancé somewhere."

"I know, I'm sorry. I don't know what I was thinking."

"You were thinking that you wanted me."

"It was a mistake. I can't afford to make mistakes like that again."

"I don't understand why you are marrying someone that you don't even love."

Bonnie had refused to think deeply about her current situation. To do so now, in front of Damon, would be openly admitting that she is screwed. Talking about it out loud just made it more real.

Bonnie took a deep breath, and began, "A year ago I helped someone, and a certain person didn't like that I helped; I'm stepping in to help again before anything horrible happens."

"Something horrible like being forced to marry someone."

"Something like that."

"What are you not telling me?"

"If I don't marry him, he's going to kill an innocent girl, and I can't just let that happen," Bonnie rushed out, almost panicked.

"You're bartering yourself for the sake of one person?"

"So I should just step aside let a person be killed?"

"Yes, you should."

"It's too late, I'm already involved."

"Why are you doing this?"

"I don't want the girl to end up like Vicki."

"What does Vicki have to do with this?"

Bonnie explained further, "Krystal, the girl I helped, is just like Vicki was: she's chasing excitement and adventure and she's been putting herself in danger. Krystal started dabbling in magic, and caught the attention of Nikolas Coronas, who is a Mage."

"Mage?"

"A Mage is a skilled magic user who doesn't need an outlet for his magic, he could just use his hands to conduct magic."

"So Krystal get's into trouble with this Nikolas guy."

"Yes. Krystal is not ready for that type of world, there is no way that she could survive that type of marriage. And if she doesn't marry him, he'll take it as a sign of disrespect and kill her. I'm the only other option. I'm stronger than Krystal, I have natural abilities."

"When are you going to stop saving everyone from there own mistakes? Every time some girl gets into witchy trouble you feel responsible."

"Elena is not some girl. And Krystal may be no one important to you in particular, but she has a family who cares about her."

"Do you want to marry this guy?"

Bonnie took her time answering the question. "Nikolas and I are compatible. It was going to happen sooner or later."

"What was going to happen sooner or later?"

"Marrying someone. It's in everything I dream about, it's in everything I see, everything I deal with. Apparently, I'm meant marry, and I guess Nikolas is meant to be my husband. I could have been anywhere in the world but I wasn't; I was in California, keeping Krystal from doing something stupid. And because of it, I'm getting married. Everything is happening as it should."

"While you're off on some self-fulfilling prophesy, what am I suppose to do?"

"You're acting like this hurts you."

"I'm not acting." This is the closest that Damon has come to admitting that this whole thing bothers him.

"It has been three years. You have moved on with no problem," Bonnie asserted.

"Maybe you shouldn't have come back," Damon responded, wanting to hurt the witch.

"If I thought I could have swooped in and saved Elena without you noticing then I would have."

"What about Stefan, why didn't you tell him about your husband to be?"

"Because I needed Stefan to move on without trying to stop me. And he will move on, I've seen it."

"What about me; what's in my future?"

"I don't know," Bonnie responded truthfully. "But I'm not in it."

* * *

Stefan takes a break from watching Elena like a hawk, and Damon takes over baby-sitting duties. He tells her all of what Bonnie has told him because Elena's mind is still murky, and it's not like Elena is going to spill all the dirty details to Stefan now that she's finally managed to gain Stefan's undivided attention.

Elena nods at the appropriate times, but she doesn't seem to be bothered that her former best friend is in an arranged marriage. It's not like Elena is being a bitch, she just doesn't see the problem. Bonnie feels that she has to do this and she going to do it no matter what anyone says.

"...Anyway I figure it would take me a few days to get in and out of Santa Barbara," Damon concludes after a long spiel.

"Wait, you're going?"

"Bonnie can't marry some dick who shoots magic out of his fingers."

"That's not your decision to make."

"I get it, you're worried about Stefan. You don't have to tell him anything. Bonnie and I don't even have to come back to Mystic Falls, afterwards. You'll have Stefan all to yourself."

"It's not about Stefan. Bonnie obviously doesn't want you to interfere."

"I don't think I asked for your opinion," Damon responded tightly through his teeth.

"It could be dangerous."

Damon was the eternal optimist, "Kill the guy. Get the girl. How hard could it be?"

* * *

**Santa Barbara, California**

Nikolas did not say a word to Bonnie when she returned from her little trip. He left her alone, to unpack, to unwind. He never once went to her wing of the sprawling mansion. He didn't care what she did, or where she went as long as she came back. They had an agreement, after all.

Nikolas felt lucky. Bonnie was just the type of wife he wanted. There was just so much fire in her, so much power. Krystal did her job well at being the damsel in distress; Bonnie was such a bleeding heart that she couldn't stand by and let the eighteen year old be married off. Nikolas played his cards right, he knew Bonnie would offer herself up before letting Krystal 'suffer.'

Make no mistake, if Krystal screwed this up for him, he will kill her. He will kill anyone who gets in the way of him claiming Bonnie as his wife.

Nikolas knew that Bonnie was only marrying him out of obligation, her hand in marriage for Krystal's safety. Bonnie did not love him, but Nikolas believed that will change once they were married. Why shouldn't it change? Nikolas was very handsome with a swimmer's build, and blonde hair and grey eyes, a rarity among his Greek brethren. He was rich, he was powerful, he could give Bonnie everything she desired.

For now, Bonnie treated him cordially. Nikolas knew that despite her reserved nature, Bonnie was very passionate. He had yet to learn that side of her. She was so closed off. She wouldn't allow him to kiss her or to hold her, let alone anything else. As frustrating as it was, he wouldn't force himself on her, for now.

* * *

Nikolas requested Bonnie's presence at dinner tonight. He just wanted to gaze at her over candle light. Soon she will soften, she will come to except him in her life. The wedding was a week away, there was plenty of time.

Bonnie's stomach turned. Nikolas was physically pleasing, and he seemed mild mannered, but that has to be a cover up for all of the darkness running through him. Every time she looked at him, she saw the darkness under his pale skin, darkness in his pale eyes. It was disconcerting.

But her dreams predicted it. Every since that first dream before she left Mystic, she's been dreaming of a wedding, of marriage. Bonnie didn't seem happy in the dreams, more resigned if anything. There was always blood, there was always her grandmother's face.

Bonnie could not explain why she couldn't bring herself to have a sexual relationship with Nikolas. There was no real explanation except to say that Nikolas made her uncomfortable. It made her skin crawl whenever he looked at her as if he wanted to eat her alive. Bonnie thought it was some leftover loyalty to Stefan, perhaps.

"You look very beautiful in that dress."

Bonnie was wearing a blue Isaac Mizrahi wrap dress. The dress was nothing fancy, but Bonnie accepted the complement, "Thank you."

"I've been meaning to ask about your trip, how did it go?"

"It went fine," Bonnie answered in a clipped manner. The less Nikolas knew about her life, the better.

"May be after dinner you wouldn't mind joining me in front of the fireplace."

"I'm still very tired. Ring check?," Bonnie responded with false cheerfulness.

"Sure, some other time."

Bonnie and Nikolas slipped into an uneasy silence. Nikolas seemed to focus on how to break Bonnie down into something pliable.

Nikolas' butler interrupts the silence to announce that there is someone requesting to speak with Ms. Bennett.

Bonnie can't think of whom it may be, part of her is shocked that someone is requesting to see her here.

The butler returns, and leads the visitor into the dining room.

Bonnie thinks that maybe she is dreaming. It's the inky black hair and the sly grin that convinces her otherwise.

"Hello, Bonnie," Damon acknowledges.

Nikolas glances at Bonnie after Damon's greeting. Before Bonnie could react, Nikolas gets up from the dinning table and offers the visitor his hand, "I'm Nikolas. I didn't get your name."

"That's because I didn't give it. Damon Salvatore."

"Salvatore" Nikolas repeated thoughtfully. "That name seems familiar."

"I'm sure I'm in the history books somewhere."

Bonnie could not remain quiet, "Damon, what are you doing here?"

"I wouldn't miss your wedding."

"I take it that Damon is a friend of yours?" Nikolas asks Bonnie.

Damon responds on Bonnie's behalf, "Oh yeah, the best of friends."

"Well, any friend of Bonnie's is a friend of mine."

Damon smiled slickly.


	13. Chapter 13

**Thanks to everyone for reviewing my stories.**

**Chapter 13**

Nikolas makes the mistake of not looking too hard for the truth. He trusts his fiancée because Bonnie hasn't done anything for him not to trust her. Nikolas believes that Damon, this man who claims to be her friend, doesn't warrant worry. To Nikolas, Damon reeks of insecurity and as a result, feels the need to overcompensate with various sexual conquests. Nikolas was like that once, it was easy to recognize.

Nikolas excuses himself from present company, leaving Damon and Bonnie alone.

Bonnie speaks first because this whole situation is entirely unbelievable."What are you doing here?," comes out of Bonnie's mouth as a harsh whisper.

"I'm saving you from making the biggest mistake of your life. You can think my later, preferably with something naughty."

"This is not a game, Damon. You have to leave."

"Fine, I'll leave. But you are coming with me."

"I can't do that."

"Well, I guess that I am not leaving anytime soon."

Nikolas returns and Bonnie resists the urge to jump away from Damon like a child being caught doing something she wasn't supposed to do.

If Nikolas notices anything out of the ordinary, he doesn't mention it. Instead he welcomes Damon with something that resembles hospitality, "You are welcome to stay here during your visit. There is more than enough room for you. What's mine is yours."

"You mean it?," Damon asks silkily.

* * *

Damon doesn't balk at the expensiveness of the mansion, or the unfailing politeness of the maids and butlers. Damon thinks he could have easily acquired this type of life if he stuck around some place long enough. Money was no object to Damon and if he thought Bonnie was interested in such things, he would make it a point to brag more often.

The house is like a museum dedicated to Nikolas, and Damon doubts Bonnie would feel very comfortable living here.

Bonnie makes it her mission to avoid being in the same room as Damon. It's easy to get lost so she does.

Deep down, Damon is as much as a masochist as Stefan. He wastes no time seeking out the bedroom that Nikolas and Bonnie must share. The room is devoid of anything Bonnie, and it looks like it hasn't seen a female presence in years. Confused, Damon stops a maid in the hallway and asks of Bonnie's whereabouts.

Bonnie floats from one corridor to another out of boredom. She should be out shopping, or some other superficial activity that would make her feel better, but she is just too stressed at the moment.

Bonnie walks towards her room but before she even opens the door, she is struck with the absolute certainty that Damon is in her bedroom, quite possibly laying on her bed. Bonnie has gotten good at feeling the nearness of certain people in her life. She hasn't used it up until this point because she hadn't the need. Damon was around, so she pays special attention now. She refused to be ambushed like she was in Missouri when she told Damon that she was leaving.

Bonnie was taking her time deciding whether or not she wanted to have a heart to heart with the vampire when Damon decides for her. "You might as well come in," Damon says through the door.

Bonnie opens the door and she takes little satisfaction in being right. As suspected, Damon is in fact stretched out on her bed, "This bed is really comfy."

"I'm glad you are comfortable. Could you please leave now?"

"You know what I find really fascinating? You don't share a bedroom with Nikolas. In fact, you are on the other side of the house. Now why is that?"

"Damon, I told you before. This marriage is happening to prevent harm to Krystal."

"So that means you don't consider him your fiancé in the true sense of the word," Damon suggested.

Bonnie opted for a scathing analysis of Damon, "You ever looked at someone and thought what an asshole they were, but there was something there; some spark of humanity that gives you hope that they could be a real, live boy someday."

"I take that as a no," Damon responded amused.

"Damon, please leave my bedroom."

"You promised me that one day we could have a talk."

"You want to talk?"

"Yeah, I do."

"Okay then, talk."

"Why are you marrying someone you haven't even fucked yet?"

Bonnie walked right into that one. "Who says I haven't had sex with Nikolas?"

Damon shook his head in denial, "You haven't. I don't smell him on you, nor you on him."

"Maybe I'm waiting till our wedding night."

"Maybe you're full of shit."

"You won't stop me from marrying him."

Damon saw something like hesitance in Bonnie's eyes, "We can protect Krystal together. You don't have to do this," Damon says with all seriousness.

"Why does it matter to you?"

Damon looks away because her cluelessness irks him, "You can be so dense, sometimes."

"Is that your way of telling me you think I'm special?," Bonnie responds with as much snark as she could muster.

"We had something."

"We had sex."

"You refused to make it anything else."

"I was with Stefan."

"And now you aren't."

"What exactly are you offering me?"

"A good time."

"I don't need a good time, Damon. Maybe I need someone who doesn't have another woman's name tattooed all over their heart."

Damon nods as if he now understands, "So that is what this is about. You're jealous of Elena."

"I'm not jealous of Elena, but I'm not stupid. Katherine meant a lot to you and you thought that you'd never find anyone else. Elena comes along and you had another chance. You had that, you had her and you loved her."

"Okay."

"Okay, what?"

"I loved Elena."

"And you still do."

"Sometimes," Damon answered honestly. "It's not any different than you still having feelings for Stefan."

"No, you are right. It's not really that different."

There's a pause in their conversation that makes Damon feel like he should make a joke. The joke would be filled with innuendo and it will make Bonnie flush and it will make Bonnie forget that Damon made the mistake of falling in love with Elena.

"Look," Bonnie begins, "I am not asking you to apologize for your love life."

"Good. I won't."

"But you can't expect me to believe that you want something with me."

"Why is that so unbelievable?"

"Because I can't do anything for you."

"_This_ is not some kind of agenda."

"What is _this,_ then?"

"I don't know what you want me to say," Damon responded after a moment.

Bonnie laughs humorlessly, "I don't know what I want you to say, either."

Bonnie asks suddenly, "That night in the car, what were you going to say?"

Damon feigned ignorance, "What do you mean?"

"Before I kissed you, what were you going to say?"

Damon thought hard: he thought that if he said to her, right now, what he was going to say in the car that night, he will regret it because immediately afterward he would want to take it back. He didn't get Katherine by telling her he loved her, he got her by being fascinated by her, by letting her know that he wanted her even if she was a monster. He didn't get Elena by telling her he loved her outright, he got her by being interesting, and entertaining, and knowing what to do with his body. Then, and only then, did he tell either woman that he loved any one of them. Bonnie wanted him to be better than he currently wanted to be right now.

"I don't remember what I was going to say." Damon responded at last.

Bonnie smiled sadly, "I didn't think you would."

* * *

Nikolas throws this big lavish party to celebrate the impending nuptials. In four days, Bonnie would be marrying some stranger.

Bonnie kept reminding herself that she was doing this for Krystal, that she was doing this to help someone live her life without interruption.

Damon hates this party. He hates the people at the party, with their smiling faces and faux happiness, and it makes Damon want to throw up. He is sure his nausea has nothing to do with Nikolas and how he can't seem to keep his hands from around Bonnie's waist.

Nikolas took his bride-to-be aside to one of the empty rooms so that they may have a moment together.

"I want you to ask your guest, Mr. Salvatore, to leave. I don't want him at our wedding."

"Why? It would be nice to have someone I know there," Bonnie truly meant that. It was bad enough that she couldn't have her father to attend or any of her friends in Mystic. Her new friends in California were kept at a distance as well. Nikolas certainly wanted her all to himself.

"I don't like the way he looks at you. He's transparent, really. He does nothing to hide his desire for you. Someone like that could be dangerous."

"It's not like I want him, too."

"You don't have to lie."

"I'm not ―"

Nikolas held up a hand to interrupt, "Whatever you may feel about him, I know that you don't trust him, and that gives me a little comfort. You have a final dress fitting in the morning, and I expect Damon to be gone by then."

Nikolas moves closer to Bonnie and frames his hand around her face, "I love you. I won't let you forget that."

* * *

'The dress really is beautiful,' Bonnie thinks as she looks in the full length mirror. The strapless Vera Wang gown was stunning, and Bonnie desperately wished that she felt happy about finally being someone's wife. It's what every girl dreams of right?

It is times like this where Bonnie wishes she were normal or that the people around her were normal.

Miriam, a lovely young maidservant, knocks on the door to tell her that Mr. Salvatore has come to speak with her at her request.

Bonnie hasn't taken her gown off yet. "Don't come in," Bonnie quickly sputters.

Damon interprets 'don't come in' as 'come in please.' Miriam moves out the way as Damon barrels half-heartedly into Bonnie's bedroom.

Damon's is expecting to get a peek at Bonnie's undergarments, or better yet, and uninterrupted view of skin.

All amusement drains from Damon's face as he sees Bonnie standing there in this ridiculous wedding dress, looking ridiculously beautiful.

To living humans, this white dress means forever. To girls like Elena, Caroline and Bonnie, this stupid dress means everything.

"I didn't want you to come in yet."

"You summoned me. So what did you want?" Damon's throat feels dry like maybe the Sahara desert has taken residence there.

"Nikolas doesn't want you at the wedding."

"Why not?"

"He doesn't like the way you look at me."

"I don't like the way he looks at you but you don't see me complaining."

"Your main purpose for coming here was to stop my wedding."

Damon thinks for a moment. "Okay, you do have a point."

"He wants you to leave today."

"Why is he telling you to do his dirty work? He could have told me himself."

"I think it is better this way. Will you?"

"Will I, what?"

"Leave."

"No. If he wants me out he has to tell me himself. Do you need help with getting that thing off?"

"No, I can manage."

"Do you need help with your vows?"

"Absolutely not!"

"You could say something like 'Nik, I think you're really awesome and I'm so happy to be marrying you so you won't force some other girl into marrying you.'"

"That's not funny." Bonnie said trying not to laugh or cry or anything of the sort.

"Yes, it is. It's hilarious."

"What would you say if you were marrying Katherine?" Bonnie asks, hoping to rattle Damon's smirk off his face.

"Other than wishing her a painful death, I don't have much to say to her."

"What about Elena?"

"Elena's 'reconnecting' with Stefan again. A wedding between her and I is not happening anytime soon."

"What if you could marry her?"

"Not gonna happen," something in Damon's tone was final.

"You are right about one thing: he wants the vows to be original. I don't know if I will be able to do that," Bonnie didn't want to cry but it was happening anyway, her eyes tearing for some errant reason.

Damon moved closer to her, "I meant what I said before. We will find another way to protect Krystal."

"But my dreams; I've seen myself in this dress in my dreams. The wedding is going to happen and I don't think there is anything you or I could do to stop it."

Damon became desperate, "I don't want you to marry Nikolas. He's not the right one for you. Whatever he can give you, I'm sure you could get that from someone else."

Damon thought that seeing Bonnie walk down the aisle to marry someone else would feel worse than being shot by his own father.


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: I would like to take the opportunity to thank everyone for reviewing my story.**

**Chapter 14**

"You haven't been holding up your end of the bargain," Nikolas mentioned to Krystal in the most causal of manners. But Krystal knew better. Inside, Nikolas was seething.

"The lost little girl act can only take me so far, Nik," Krystal asserted.

The two were in Krystal's little apartment, an hour away from Nikolas lavish home. Although tiny, the apartment was well kept. Krystal was proud of everything she owned, everything she has accumulated.

"I don't think you understand me, Krystal. I'm not really concerned about the level of difficulty this causes in your life. You are still living, you are still breathing and that is because of me. "

"I am getting so sick of your threats."

"What do you plan to do about it? Tell Bonnie? I could kill you before you even get to the front door."

"Why don't you do that?", Krystal bluffed. "Oh, that's right! Bonnie's only marrying you to insure my safety. You kill me, and you kill whatever chance you have at marrying her."

Nikolas became incensed. How dare she talk to him this way. "If you think that you are indispensable, then you are sadly mistaken. Once Bonnie and I are married, I will no longer need your services."

"You wouldn't kill me. Bonnie won't allow you to."

"Accidents happen, Krystal. One day you are here, and the next...well, you get the picture. Bonnie could hardly fault me if something were to happen to you."

"I hate you."

"I know. Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn."

* * *

At the mansion, Bonnie passed by a servant who seemed to be in a hurry. Bonnie was a bit frantic herself, looking for Nikolas. She wanted to tell him that getting rid of Damon was not as easy as Nikolas expected. Bonnie definitely wanted to tell Nikolas before he saw that Damon was still here, in his home. Bonnie had not gotten used to calling this her home yet. She wondered if she ever would.

"Have you seen Nikolas?" Bonnie inquired.

"No, ma'am. He left early this morning."

"Do you know when he'll be back?"

"I am not sure. He never takes long when he goes to visit Ms. Krystal. Excuse me, I must attend to the laundry."

"Yeah, okay," Bonnie mumbled her reply.

Why in the world would he visit Krystal? He promised Bonnie that he would have no contact with the girl, yet he is and he has for some time it seems.

Bonnie was disappointed. She knew that Nikolas was serious about his threat toward Krystal but Bonnie expected him to keep his end of the bargain. Bonnie is here, sacrificing herself, and Nikolas doesn't seem to care. Worse, he was still taunting Krystal.

Bonnie was so lost in thought that she didn't sense Damon coming up behind her. Bonnie felt a pair of lips against her shoulder and turned around swiftly.

"Good morning, beautiful," Damon greeted, obviously in a good mood.

"Damon, we talked about this. You have to leave."

"And I told you that if Nikolas wants me gone, he has to do it himself. Hiding behind his fiancé is not an option. Where is he anyway?"

"He left early." Bonnie did not volunteer the fact that Nikolas went to see Krystal.

"So he's gone and you're here."

"Apparently."

Before Bonnie could even blink, Damon grabbed Bonnie and pulled her close to him. He pressed her against the nearest wall, aligning his body as close to hers as possible.

Damon kissed Bonnie's cheek, and her eyelids fluttered. He kissed the side of her mouth and Bonnie nearly swooned. She should feel like this around Nikolas, she should feel this sort of excitement from him, not from Damon.

"What are you doing?," Bonnie asked, silently berating herself for sounding so breathless.

"Come on, live a little. This is probably as close to a bachelorette party as you're going to get."

"Are you going to kiss me?" Bonnie did not know where that came from (She's lying, of course. It came from the constant drum in her body that seems to beat to Damon's rhythm. If she were to be honest with herself, she'd say she desperately wanted him to take her away from all of this).

Damon realized that there was a change in the game. He played along because if that meant Bonnie is playing too, then it would be worth it.

"I'm going to kiss you."

"Where?" Bonnie couldn't make herself shut up.

"Where ever you want me to kiss you."

"On my mouth," Bonnie decided after a moment. Lips were safe, they had to be.

Damon leaned in, crowding the petite Witch. Damon paused before kissing her, letting Bonnie know that she could escape if she wanted. Bonnie didn't want to.

Damon lips made contact with hers and Bonnie felt like she was burning up from the inside. Damon's lips were persistent but not rough.

Damon reached up a hand to tangle in Bonnie's hair, and the soft gasp she gave let him kiss her deeper.

There was the taste of her that he knew he wouldn't be able to satisfy with anyone else. There was the feel of her against him that told him, quite plainly, that if he didn't find a way to make him and her _happen_, he would regret it. He would regret it as surely as anything else in his life.

Bonnie pulled away because she needed to breathe. Her mind was clouded because Damon's lips were so warm, but more importantly she needed to breathe.

Damon could kiss her like this all day. He could spend all day doing anything with her, to her. He tried to remember the last time a kiss meant so much to him. He tried to remember a time when another's lips made him feel so alive despite a dead, dead heart.

"We have to stop. Nikolas will return soon."

"Let him. Let him see." Damon felt reckless.

"You don't mean that."

"You're operating under the assumption that I actually care about offending dear Nikolas."

"You don't know what he can do."

"Yeah, I know. He shoots magic out of his fingers."

"Let's be serious for a moment."

"No. You've probably been serious your whole life. Now shut up and let me kiss you."

A maid interrupted, clearing her throat. Bonnie pushed Damon a way from her, putting some distance between them. The maid announced Nikolas' return home.

* * *

Damon called Stefan. He wasn't sure why. Damon could ask how life was treating him. He could ask if Elena was any less neurotic.

"This is going to sound strange, but what is the most effective way to break up a wedding?," Damon blurted out instead.

"What are you talking about?" Stefan was genuinely perplexed. Damon never returned to Mystic Falls with he and Elena, and Stefan wasn't sure where Damon had been all this time. A small part of him was relieved to hear Damon's voice. A very small part, to be sure.

"If you were to break up a wedding, how would you go about doing that?"

"What wedding?"

"It's just a friend," Damon quickly glossed over. The last thing he needed was Stefan riding to the rescue.

"Why would you want to break up a wedding?"

"They are not right for each other. He's broody and controlling and kinda like you but with a more annoying face."

"Damon, whatever you have planned, don't do it. Just walk away."

"Stefan, as usual, your advice is lame."

"Do I know the woman?"

"Who says I'm doing this for the woman?"

"It's always for a woman. Do I know her?"

"Do you have to know every woman that I know?"

"You have no friends, remember?"

"Yeah, this conversation just got boring. Goodbye Stefan."

"Damon, don't do anything ―"

"Goodbye," Damon interrupted, and then promptly hung up on his brother.

'Well that was a waste of time,' Damon thought.

* * *

The frown gracing Bonnie's face displeased Nikolas. Bonnie seemed to be in a sour mood ever since he walked through the door.

"What's wrong, my love."

Bonnie briefly considered lying, telling Nikolas that everything is fine. Tomorrow she would be marrying this man in front of her. This man she did not love, nor admire.

"Why did you go to see Krystal?"

Nikolas barely blinked. There was no point in letting Bonnie see his shock. The maids and the butlers, they all talk too much. They do not know how to be discrete. He will have to fix that.

"I merely extended an invitation to the wedding. After all, you are doing this for her, are you not?," a threat was hidden in there, somewhere, and Bonnie did not like it one bit.

"If I am to keep my end of the bargain, then you should too. I am marrying you so you can stay away from Krystal. I didn't expect you to reach out to her."

"If it bothers you, I will not do so again, " Nikolas lied.

"I don't want you near her."

"Come now, let's not argue. Tomorrow, we will be joined as man and wife. It will be the happiest day of my life."

Bonnie remained quiet. She simply couldn't return the sentiment.

* * *

Bonnie couldn't sleep. She was fairly certain that she will look horrible in the morning but there was just too much dread in her heart.

This time, Bonnie was not surprised by Damon's presence. Bonnie knew Damon was coming down the hall before he even reached her bedroom door. He didn't bother to knock and he walked around like he owned the place. Nikolas was strangely quiet about Damon still being here. Bonnie guessed that Nikolas had bigger fish to fry.

Damon barged in and he walked around the room as if he slept there instead of her.

"So I've been thinking."

Bonnie knew that a bad idea was not far.

"Maybe we are going about this the wrong way."

"We?"

"Yes. We, " Damon insisted. "Tomorrow you are going to marry Nikolas."

"I know that already."

"And you will spend your first night here, as douche and wife."

"Leave it to you to find something to joke about."

"And I will kill him."

"What?" Bonnie did not fully comprehend that last statement.

"In your marriage bed, I will kill him. He will be drunk from celebrating. He will be too concerned with finally getting to see you naked. When you are drunk and horny, the last thing on your mind is dying."

"You are going to hide in the closet and then jump out and maul him?"

"Cool plan, huh?"

"That is the dumbest idea that I have ever heard. It is so dumb, that it just might work."

"I knew you would like it."

"If you don't kill him in the first strike, he will kill you."

"I can take care of myself. You really have no objections to me killing Nikolas?"

"If the choice is between him killing Krystal or you killing him, I would want you to kill him. He's not going to stop contacting Krystal, I know that now. No matter what I do, he will just end up doing whatever he wanted to anyway. The thought of being married to that, scares me. I would kill him myself but I am afraid he is too perceptive of my powers. Whenever I use my powers in front of him, his presence overwhelms me, makes me sloppy. I wouldn't be able to do anything without everyone in this house biting the dust."

"You sound practical, cold even. Almost like me."

"What can I say, Salvatore. Looks like something of yours has finally rubbed off on me.

* * *

**A/N**: Although it's not finished yet....

Chapter 15 sneak peak!

_"There's something about you that makes me want to give you everything," Damon said honestly._

**Update on other stories**  
I plan to write a short Jeremy/Tyler fic set in IWTTY universe. I also plan to write a sequel of sorts to the Stefan/Bonnie fic, **I'll Teach You and You'll Never Be Sure**. I'm just trying to get through finals right now, so bear with me.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

Bonnie managed to convince Nikolas that the two were better off sticking with the traditional vows instead of coming up with their own. There seemed to be no way she could elegantly and lovingly convey to a bunch of strangers that she was marrying the man in front of her because someone would die if she didn't.

Bonnie sat in front of her bedroom vanity, already gussied-up in her wedding gown. When she imagined getting married, it was not to a man that she barely knew and love had to play some sort of part.

Bonnie tried to clear her mind. She did not think about what happens after the wedding. She wanted there to be some element of surprise on her part, so Nikolas will be none the wiser.

Suddenly, a knock to the door broke Bonnie out of her thoughts. Bonnie believed that it must be the help because Damon doesn't knock.

The voice behind the door proved differently, "Are you decent?," Damon asked with a sense of mock decorum.

Bonnie did not see the point in refusing his entry. Bonnie welcomed Damon's presence at this point. He was familiar and he was dangerously close to becoming someone who resembled home. Bonnie wasn't sure when this had happened.

"You can come in."

Damon would be lying to himself if he said that seeing Bonnie again in her wedding dress didn't have some type of effect on him. It is so stupid, he shouldn't feel a damned thing, he should be able to turn it off and on like a switch. But being around Bonnie made him go haywire, and everything he knew before seemed like a lie. Damon won't admit that to her anytime soon.

"You shouldn't look so dismal. Just think, in a few more hours, no more Nikolas," Damon jokes instead.

"Thank you." The words sounded foreign to her lips, not because Bonnie has never thanked anyone before, but because thanking Damon happens so infrequently.

"Don't thank me yet. You are doing most of the work: getting him drunk, being a cock tease, and I just have to do what I do best."

Bonnie offered a sad, small smile. "I feel a little sick."

"You're not pregnant or anything, are you?"

"No! I haven't even French kissed Nikolas, much less had sex with him."

"You never know, he could have impregnated you with his mind or something."

"Your jokes are not funny."

"You know that I am hilarious so there is not point in denying it."

"Hilarious?"

"Yes; hilarious, charming, gorgeous. Well, maybe not the last part, you seem immune to my looks. You favor the brooding forehead type."

"I always found you attractive, I just never liked you..." Bonnie paused, wanting to choose her words carefully, "Until now."

Damon's only response was a lifted eyebrow.

Bonnie continued, "You always seem to be around when I need you, even when I cannot admit to myself that I need you."

Damon wanted to be the type of sensitive person who would take what Bonnie said and run with it, run as far as it will take them. Instead, he ignored it and focused on tonight.

* * *

The wedding was a blur. Bonnie remembered saying 'I do'. She remembered Nikolas looking so ecstatically happy. She remembered seeing a look on Damon's face that said, quite plainly, that he wanted to forego the plan and kill Nikolas right then and there.

There were people she didn't know, grinning at her. There were people she never met before, wishing her a happy life with Nikolas. It made her want to cry and it made her wish that there was such thing as normal in her life.

The only thing that made it bearable was the fact that Damon was around.

Bonnie played her role. She smiled and whispered to Nikolas that she couldn't wait until later. She refilled his champagne cup time after time. At first, Nikolas did not seem at all effected. Slowly, Nikolas became freer in his speech and with his hands, his cheeks ruddy with fervor and excitement. Nikolas seemed carefree.

If Nikolas was a good person, Bonnie might rethink the plan. If Nikolas was someone she cared about, Bonnie might have called the whole thing off. Nikolas was neither, that that made Bonnie unbelievably sad.

Nikolas brought this white, silky dressing gown. Bonnie didn't want to take off her wedding dress. There was something about wearing a nightgown while orchestrating the murder someone. She supposed she should feel disturbed wearing a wedding dress as well.

The bed curtains were red and thick, parted to reveal Nikolas stretched out on his bed, 'their bed', he insisted.

"Please, take that off, and come to me," Nikolas urged.

"I want to wear it a bit longer, it is so beautiful."

"My dear, you could wear it tomorrow if you like but I want you, now."

All of the servants were relieved of their duty. Nikolas was under the impression that everyone had gone. He could have sworn he saw Damon slip out earlier. There was no reason for Bonnie to delay the inevitable any longer. If Bonnie had some reservation, then she will just have to get over it. Nikolas was not above making her complete her wifely duties.

"Come here, let me help you out of the dress."

"I can help myself. Just relax. We have all night, do we not?"

"All of the night and all of the day," Nikolas responded with such reverence.

Damon wanted to throw up. The sooner they got this over with, the better. He could think of so many other things to do with his life than to hide in a closet all night.

Damon quieted down his inner thoughts to hear his cue. Bonnie would say the word 'kiss' and Damon would save the day.

Bonnie turned her back to Nikolas, and said a silent prayer that this would work.

Bonnie turned to face Nikolas once again, and asked, "Would you like a kiss?"

Before Nikolas could respond, Damon burst threw the closet door, launching himself towards Nikolas. For a moment the fear existed that Nikolas would respond, he'll do some type magic that turn everything on its head.

But that never happened. Damon ripped out his throat before Nikolas could utter the old Latin sayings.

Blood splattered everywhere. Damon could be messy because he was not trying to drink and fulfill his thirst. He was trying to kill, to extinguish.

A large bloom of blood appeared on Bonnie's dress, looking like a large, wet rose. However stupid it might seem, Bonnie briefly wondered if she was injured. Then she remembered, all too rightly, that it was not her blood.

When Damon looked back at her, Bonnie saw the same rage and that anger that Damon held when Emily was possessing Bonnie's body.

Damon must have realized that Bonnie was uncomfortable so he smoothed his face. Blood was still covering his mouth and some had dripped unto his fresh, white shirt.

Damon held out his hand to a startled Bonnie.

Together, the two walked out of the mansion, hand in hand, covered with blood in some way, space, or form. To anyone else, they might seem like monstrous. But Bonnie knew the truth; Damon saved her.

* * *

They drove past many exits. Damon thought that killing a man and stealing his car was symbolic. The two flirted with the possibility of stopping somewhere, to get out of their clothes, or to rest.

"He doesn't have any brothers that are going to avenge his death or anything, does he?," Damon inquired early on.

Bonnie honestly didn't know. Nikolas never talked much about family.

"So, I've been thinking," Damon blurted out suddenly.

Bonnie was a little alarmed, but said nothing.

"I think you and I should maybe do something about all of this desire you feel towards me."

"My desire towards you?"

"Yeah, it's a little obsessive but I could deal with it. I kind of like being the center of your world."

"Damon, are you being delusional again?"

Damon took his eyes off the rode, "After everything, you don't..."Damon was at a loss for words. He was being rejected even after saving Bonnie's life.

"'I don't', what?

"You are a very difficult woman to please."

"Maybe if you would just spit out whatever you wanted to say to me then I would have some clue as to what you are talking about."

"There's something about you that makes me want to give you everything," Damon said honestly.

"I don't know what to say to that," Bonnie was stunned at Damon's frankness.

"Say that you want me too."

Everything was silent for a moment, and Damon wanted to crawl under the hood of the car he was driving.

"I want you, too," Bonnie finally responded.

Damon pulled the car over in the middle of nowhere and kissed her.

* * *

**Paris, France**

"I'm not coming out!," Bonnie screams through the closed bathroom door.

The two were hold-up in a quaint little loft in Montmartre. Bonnie did not know how Damon had convinced her to go to France.

"Since when are you so modest?"

"This slip doesn't cover anything," Bonnie asserts.

"That's the point. Come out so I can ravish you."

Bonnie relented.

Damon wondered when he will stop feeling that throbbing in his chest whenever he looked at Bonnie. It was annoying and it made him want to do something stupid like pledge his love to her, or something equally sappy.

Instead, Damon focuses on peeling the little slip off of Bonnie's frame. He focuses on kissing every square inch of her body. He focuses on the sounds she makes, and the soft give of her body. And everything feels so right and so good and makes sense like nothing ever did.

After the touching and the kissing after fitting their bodies together in the most fantastic of ways, after Bonnie's heart has stopped beating so fast, she thought that now was as good a time as any to bring up going back to Mystic Falls.

"When are we going back to Mystic?"

Damon stiffened because going back to Mystic meant seeing Stefan.

Bonnie sensed Damon's worry, "There will be no one else for me."

"How do you know that?," Damon asked, hating that he might have sounded a little too hopeful.

"I've seen it."

**END**

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**A/N**: **I have had so much fun writing this story. I really wasn't expecting to write fifteen chapters! I would like to take the opportunity to thank each and every one of you who have read, reviewed, and favored my story, or even favored me as an author. I appreciate all of the encouragement.**

**On another note, I am interested in writing more Bamon, or VD fiction in general. Does anyone have any ideas or prompts that they are interested in having turned into a story? Please feel free to mention ideas/prompts in the reviews or in private messages.**

**Thanks again for supporting my writing.**

**UPDATES:** **"How We Are Hungry" - Stefan/Bonnie short AU fiction set in "I'll Teach You And You'll Never Be Sure" universe is now posted.**

**"Shine Like It Does" - Jeremy/Tyler short AU fiction set in IWTTY universe is now posted.**


	16. Author's Note

**A/N:** "**When Love Come To Town**," follow-up to the fiction, "**I Want To Touch You**" has been posted. Enjoy!


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